FAQs

What is EREB?

In 1998, the 3 major research funding councils to universities (SSHRC, NSERC, MRC/CIHR) introduced the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS) on research with human subjects. The Tri-Council went on to state that universities were required to comply with the TCPS if they wished to continue receiving research funds from them. The ultimate purpose of research ethics procedures is to protect all participants in the research, including the researcher. In addition to ethics review, the TCPS also requires that all research studies must be subjected to a scholarly review.

In the fall of 1999, the Queen's University response was to put its new ethics review process in place, through the creation of a university-wide General Research Ethics Board (GREB), and a series of unit Research Ethics Boards (unit REBs). The Education Research Ethics Board (EREB) is the unit REB for the Faculty of Education. Through the GREB and EREB, Faculty of Education ethics submissions go through a "two-tier" and "two-stage" process.

What does EREB do?

EREB is a service committee within the Faculty of Education that assists faculty and students (both undergraduate and graduate) in preparing ethics submissions in such a way that they will be positively reviewed by GREB. EREB plays an enabling role since it facilitates the pursuit of our research work in an ethical and timely manner. Submissions are reviewed in light of the TCPS "guiding ethical principles" which are:

(a) respect for human dignity,

(b) respect for free and informed consent,

(d) respect for privacy and confidentiality,

(e) respect for justice and inclusiveness, and

(f) balancing harms and benefits.

The role of EREB is not to question research traditions but rather to ensure that the research is able to meet its intended outcome in a manner that reduces and minimizes the risk to both the researcher(s) and the participants.

In order to comply with the TCPS (article 1.5) and GREB policies, EREB conducts the scholarly review at the same time as it conducts the ethical review. For studies that have been reviewed and approved by other external agencies, for example SSHRC, the scholarly review completed by that agency fulfills this requirement. In addition to reviewing submissions, EREB answers questions about research ethics, suggests changes to a study in order to address ethics issues, and makes presentations to B.Ed. and graduate students about research ethics.

This document was created by Peter Chin, EREB co-chair 2002-2004, on behalf of EREB. Although every effort has been made to ensure accurate information, keep in mind that ethics policies are constantly being revised by GREB and at the national level.