Forms and Guidelines

Mohawk College has a new Survey and Administrative Approval process through Institutional Research.

Please complete the Survey and Administrative Approval Form:

• If you plan to survey 350+ participants at Mohawk College
• If you require access to institutional data for your research

The MCREB requires approval from Institutional Research, or the custodian of the original data, for the secondary use of institutional data for research purposes.

REMEMBER TO ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME. The ethics review process can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from submission to approval depending on reviewer availability and the volume of applications received.  Make sure your application form is detailed, complete and signed and that all supporting documents have been included.

"REB review is not required for research that relies exclusively on secondary use of anonymous information, or anonymous human biological materials, so long as the process of data linkage or recording or dissemination of results does not generate identifiable information. Application:  Secondary use refers to the use in research of information or human biological materials originally collected for a purpose other than the current research purpose. Anonymous information and human biological materials are distinct from those that have been coded, and also from those that have been anonymized." (TCPS2 Chapter 2 Article 2.4) 

The TCPS2 Chapter 5 defines Anonymous Information as "information never had identifiers associated with it (e.g., anonymous surveys) and risk of identification of individuals is low or very low".

The Mohawk College Research Ethics Board requires all research relying on secondary use of information that is not anonymous, in that the information originally included identifiers, to undergo REB review prior to the information being released to the researcher.  Please submit the MCREB Multi-site Ethics Application for review.

REB approval does not constitute college approval.  Access to institutional data at Mohawk College involves consultation and approval from Institutional Research.

Some Mohawk courses include class projects or activities designed to develop research skills, which might be carried out by individual students, small groups, or as a single class project. These class projects or activities might not fit the standard definition of research in the sense that the results are not intended for publication or for generalization to other situations. However, if the potential exists for risk to humans who participate in these course-based projects or activities, these projects or activities should undergo ethical review.

For further clarification, please consult the Guidelines for Course-Based Student Research Involving Human Participants before submitting an Application for Course-Based Student Research.

REMEMBER TO ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME. The ethics review process can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from submission to approval depending on reviewer availability and the volume of applications received.  Make sure your application form is detailed, complete and signed and that all supporting documents have been included.

McMaster University, Mohawk College and Conestoga College have a Coordinated Review process for researchers conducting studies at more than one of the three sites.  Please contact the reb.coordinator [at] mohawkcollege.ca (MCREB Coordinator )for instructions on how to proceed.

TCPS2 - Chapter 9 "acknowledges the unique status of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. It interprets how the value of respect for human dignity and the core principles of Respect for Persons, Concern for Welfare, and Justice (as articulated in Chapter 1) apply to research involving Aboriginal peoples. It accords respect to Aboriginal peoples’ knowledge systems by ensuring that the various and distinct world views of Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples are represented in planning and decision making, from the earliest stages of conception and design of projects through to the analysis and dissemination of results. It affirms respect for community customs and codes of research practice to better ensure balance in the relationship between researchers and participants, and mutual benefit in researcher-community relations."  Review the Engagement of Indigenous Peoples form to determine whether Indigenous Community Engagement is required.

"Researchers should be aware of the requirement to report to their REB, in a timely manner, proposed changes from approved research that affect participants at any stage of the process including, but not limited to, changes to the consent form, changes to the tasks or interventions involved in the research, or changes to measures to protect privacy and confidentiality. Any substantive change to the research should not be implemented without documented approval by the REB, except when necessary to eliminate an immediate risk(s) to the participants." (TCPS2 Chapter 6, Article 6.16)

The signed Change Request form should be emailed to the REB Coordinator accompanying all new and revised supporting documents.

"The REB shall make the final determination as to the nature and frequency of continuing research ethics review in accordance with a proportionate approach to research ethics review. At minimum, continuing research ethics review shall consist of an annual status report (for multi-year research projects), and an end-of-study report (projects lasting less than one year." (TCPS2 Chapter 6, Article 6.14)

The signed Annual Status Report form should be emailed to the REB Coordinator 3 weeks before REB approval expires (the anniversary date of original ethics clearance) unless an Amendment Request has been approved to extend the study beyond a year.

The Principal Investigator or Faculty Supervisor (in the case of student research) is responsible for reporting any injury, adverse event, or detrimental incident experienced by a research participant that is/may be related to the research procedures.  Any undesirable experience or response is considered an adverse event.  The adverse event may be emotional, psychological or physiological in nature.

The Principal Investigator or Faculty Supervisor must notify the Chair of the Research Ethics Board about the occurrence of the adverse event IMMEDIATELY.  In addition, the Principal Investigator or Faculty Supervisor must complete and submit a signed Adverse Events Report to the Chair of the Research Ethics Board according to the same timeline. The Principal Investigator or Faculty Supervisor is expected to respond to the adverse event immediately and according to the description originally outlined in your Research Protocol.