Research Ethics standard text to support bids for external funding

The Human Research Ethics Committee reviews OU research which involves human data or participants. The majority of funding bodies do not require any ethics review prior to funding being awarded, but sometimes funders do ask for evidence of the OU review process or a provisional review. The standard text below can be used to provide ethics review information and where required, the HREC can provide a provisional review, in liaison with colleagues in Research Development.

Provisional review
Occasionally, where a funder specifically requires evidence of an ethics overview at bid stage, the HREC can provide a provisional review. Contact or tel: 01908 654858 to arrange this.

However, it is usually helpful to consider ethics at bid stage, and irrespective of how a piece of research is funded, all research involving human participants should undergo some level of ethics review once funding has been agreed andbefore any participants are contacted

Where a researcher feels it would support their bid or confirm to the funder that the OU has an ethics review process, the standard text below can be adapted and added to fit with a research project and bid.

Standard text
Research carried out at the Open University is carried out within a structured governance framework which includes assessment and, where required, review by the OU Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). OU Researchers are aware that their research is governed by and adheres to Open University processes and policies, including the following(

  • Ethics Principles for Research Involving Human Participants
  • Code Of Practice For Research
  • Universities UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity
  • Procedure for dealing with allegations of academic malpractice or misconduct

Bids with provisional review
If/when provisional approval is given the following can be included with the standard text:

The outline proposal for this research has received a favourable opinion from the HREC and as soon as funding is awarded HREC will be contacted to assess whether a full ethics review will be required.

The Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) has a Framework for Research Ethics ( and again the ESRC does not usually require ethics review at bid stage, but it may be useful to add the following paragraph to the standard text above.

OU research ethics review procedures are fully compliant with the ESRC and the ESRC Framework for Research Ethics. Once funding is awarded the research will be assessed as to whether full ethics review is required, and the Principal Investigator will ensure that the relevant reviews have been sought and taken place before any research involving human participants is begun.

After funding is awarded
As soon as a bid for funding is successful, the Primary Investigator (PI) should contact the HREC to assess whether a full ethics review will be required -

Email: l: 01908 654858

Carmel Collins
Research Ethics Manager

March 2018