You can try to avoid going through an "university" 'coz you will always be asked to credit them (those who review your research and "clear it"). Instead, why not go through an independent institute which does research in your field. They can to the recension of the ethical validity of your research and your just need to attach that recension they gave you when submitting research findings in a paper.

I believe you need to be linked to an educational or research institution - you might become an adjunct researcher with a university, and that will put through the process of obtaining ethics approval - however, you need to show your affiliation on the papers generated from this research as this university.

Says:-

Mr. Milan Tair & Ms. Theodora Issa,

I understand both of your view points. I appreciate and value your comments! Being an adjunct researcher with any University will make you (partially) dependent on that University and the word 'Independent Researcher' does not exist here. Getting ethical clearance (alone) from any independent institute is a good option to ponder. However, it depends on the type of research and the Institute's ethical team.

My view/ argument is, why do Independent Researchers' need ethical clearance for harmless data collection?

For Example:-

If I am doing any research that require blood sample collection or extreme physical exertion that may lead to breathlessness or adverse affects, I understand, ethical clearance is mandatory.

On the other hand, I feel, researches that involve simple exercises, agility testing, comparative data (pre exercise and post exercise), etc., should they require ethical clearance too?

Now this makes me to question the role of 'consent form' obtained from the subjects.

The importance of obtaining consent from the subjects is to make sure that the person has understood the research procedure and is willing to participate and help the researcher achieve his/her goal. If ethical clearance is necessary for every research that involve human subjects, then, has the role of consent form suppressed?

You can overcome this with a simple consent contract or another form of legal agreement that you will have your sources sign to agree that they willingly give information and/or "samples" if you are collecting something in an physically invasive way, so that if at any time someone wants to question your data sets and "ethical" or any other kind of validity regarding the way you have collected it, you just need to present a ton of papers proving that you did it with consent, that you did explain the method, you did explain how data/samples will be used etc. You give one copy to the data source and keep one for yourself.

Still, I don't think that just by doing research under some university or other research institution's flank will excuse you from having to acquire consent forms from subjects.

Imagine a situation: You want to collect left hand pinky finger bones from 10 live subjects. Will "ethical clearance" from any institution mean that you don't need very hard and well written consent agreement or contract? Of course, no one would ever agree to sign it, in the first place, but my point it that for most things ethical clearance does not eliminate the need for a consent paper of some kind.

Great question and comments above..

I think we need to make distinction between obtaining consent and obtaining approval from ethical committee..

The role of ethical committee is to figure out if the proposed experiment or interaction with the human being is safe and justified. it also looks at how any problems will be dealt with during the course of the intervention, interaction or follow-up. these are important issues to address..

Consent denotes that the human participant in the study took part voluntarily after being informed of the possible risks and benefits.. even if approval from the ethics committee has been obtained, no human participant should be enrolled in a study without their consent and it is important to document their consent in this regard.

Do you think it is worthwhile having independent ethics committees to review studies of independent researchers...

regards, raza

Hello Raza,

I think having a special official body to oversee and provide consent and where approval is needed provide approval is something that needs to be looked at - and wen I mentioned that be attached to a university, this does not by itself provide the researcher with the right to conduct research, but this research (which has to be submitted for approval with specific due date, so the project will not go forever... any change to the situation needs to be advised to the committee.

Hope this clarifies.

Regards

Theodora Issa

Thanks Theodora,

I agree that it would be ideal if universities could also support independent researchers and do not look down upon them.. unfortunately, the problem stays that researchers within the universities do not have a say to help independent researchers. Decision making is usually done at a level that has a tendency to look down upon independent researchers as 'non-academic' or 'beyond the scope and goals of the university charter' etc. and may find it far fetched to take them under the wing of the institution.

So the only choice independent researchers have is to ask someone associated with the universities to become a co-author and apply for ERC approval as primary investigator. It may serve the purpose but the issue is that the lead person (who conceives the idea, gathers the data, works hard to make sense of it) is sidelined for the university and the affiliated researcher to take credit as PI or first author.

Therefore i think it is up to the researchers to help each other by setting up independent ethics review committees (under guidance of a university or research body) that has a transparent review process and all applications are open to public once approved.

I would like to know if there are any other way people affiliated with universities can facilitate work by independent researchers.

regards, raza

Says:-

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions and comments!

Mr. Milan, I understand that '' ethical clearance does not eliminate the need for a consent paper '' but, my point of view is, " why should there be an ethical clearance when you already have the consent paper signed by the subjects/ samples? " Please understand, I am stressing that there is no need for ethical clearance only for HARMLESS DATA COLLECTIONs ALONE. This could save a lot of time and money for the (independent) researchers, as I foresee, giving ethical clearance for independent researchers could be a serious money making business in the future! This is what (I think) Mr. Raza pointed out regarding " having independent ethics committees to review studies of independent researchers ".

I do appreciate and agree (100%) with your idea of making a legal agreement with potential organizations regarding ethical clearance. I believe, that is the only option available for independent researchers as of now. However (as I pointed out in my previous comment), it would depend on the type of research and the ethical team. On a funny note, if I intend to collect " pinky finger bones from 10 live subjects " I may even land up behind the bars for multi tasking!

As Ms. Issa suggested, I too would love to see more 'special official bodies' coming forward in favor of independent researchers, granting them the necessary permission to carry out their researches ethically and emphatically! Till then, let's wait for some more answers..,

Thanks & best regards,

~ Sai ~

Of course, I agree that for "harmless data collection" it is absurd to be required to acquire ethical clearance. My example was strictly for an invasive and potentially harmful data collection method.

Says:-

I found this article regarding 'Independent Research' interesting. I am sharing it here. Though, not much was in detail about ethical clearance, yet, worthy to read!

Here is an independent review org in Australia. I have not contacted them yet. Maybe you have similar in your country

http://www.bellberry.com.au/about-us

Here is a list of human ethics research committees  in Oz.

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-ethics/human-research-ethics-committees-hrecs/list-human-research-ethics-committees-registere

I quote from the British Psychological Society: "An increasing number of independent practitioners and researchers seek ethics review for their proposed research. If the research is being conducted within the NHS (National Health Service), the individual should contact the NRES for further guidance. If the research is not being conducted within the NHS, the individual should explore the possibility of obtaining ethics guidance and review from a local university. Universities usually have well established procedures for ethics review, and it may be the case that approval or sound advice could be obtained via this route."

 It would be ideal to request the Institute where you are working to constitute an ethical committee to present your paper . I do not know whether you are planning the work in your Institute or elsewhere . Every Institute should have its own ethics committee. There are also independent ethical committees , you can approach .

I have also tried to find that answer, but haven't found it. Researchers here are giving all the details, which is relevant to question or not, but Question is still unanswered. 

Question is: Being an independent researcher, do I need ethical approval for my independent research (harmless)? 

Again, If I am not affiliated to any institute or University. 

I 'm still not clear what the answer is to the question:

Being an independent researcher, do I need ethical approval for my independent research (harmless)?

and if the subject of test (skin spectroscopy) is one of the co-authors , would it change the requirement for having the ethical approval?

HI collegue,

1. Do you still have this problem on seeking ethical approval from ethics committee / IRBs ?

2. If the problem has been solved, could you please share the relevant local/ international committee/IRBs for us? (i.e. The name of committee/ other available IRBs)

3. If you still have the same problem, what action did you take? Give up your research/ co-operate with other researchers in an institute?   

4.Besides, do you have any idea which journal accept studies without ethics approval (not for clinical studies/ trial but e,g, protocol / hypothesis etc) 

Regards,

Cecilia 

Hi Cecilia,

below are two excerpts from e-mails i've got while searching for approval from ethics committee / IRBs:

--WESTERN INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (www.wirb.com)  We would be happy to review your research to provide oversight, or could offer you an Exemption Determination if that would be appropriate. 

Quorum Review IRB (www.QuorumReview.com)  If you would like a formal written opinion as to whether your proposed activity is “human subjects research” requiring IRB review, Quorum offers this service. The fee for this service is $725. 

both options are quite expensive;  one way of having the IRB approval could be collaborating with a researcher from university  that has such committee.

i hope that helps.

Fedor

@ Dr Yogesh,

 Even if you are an independent researcher , you need ethical approval for your research , even if it is 'harmless' . If you want to publish this work , journals need ethical approval for your research . The ethical committee is there to protect the subjects of your research & any research on humans needs ethical committee approval .

agreed Dr. Singh Shivakumar, The ethical committee is there to protect the subjects of the research....but, if the subject of test (skin spectroscopy) is one of the co-authors, would it change the requirement for having the ethical approval? In other words when i publish research done on myself, what would be correct way to comply with scientific journal requirement on the IRB approval?

@ Feder A Ilkov

How many subjects are there in your study , including the co-authors? I would request you to submit your study with clear objectives & note the comments of the members of the ethical committee , which include different groups of people . They might provide you with valuable comments about your study , as to why you need the co-authors in this group .

Hi,

After you answered me, I submitted a paper related to this issue. It is published. Please have a look and further discuss. Thanks

https://scientiaricerca.com/srohde/SROHDE-01-000026.php

Cecilia.  

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but isn't this the point of institutions such as the IRAS? It's not university associated but allows independent researchers to submit studies for ethical reviews.

Thank you all for your wonderful answers!

Hi Bells Kirby,

what is IRAS? plz add a link.

thanks,

Fedor

Hi Fedor, Bells Kirby

were we able to find out what IRAS are and where? many thanks.

Hello John,

not sure what are IRAS, but regarding IRB below are two excerpts from e-mails i've got while searching for approval from ethics committee / IRBs:

--WESTERN INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (www.wirb.com)  We would be happy to review your research to provide oversight, or could offer you an Exemption Determination if that would be appropriate. 

Quorum Review IRB (www.QuorumReview.com)  If you would like a formal written opinion as to whether your proposed activity is “human subjects research” requiring IRB review, Quorum offers this service. The fee for this service is $725. 

both options are quite expensive;  one way of having the IRB approval could be collaborating with a researcher from university  that has such committee.

i hope that helps.

Fedor

Here's what we've done in the USA. We collaborated with a number of other independent organizations to create our own nonprofit ethical review board. You can get resources on our website: http://bhrcirb.org/

IRAS (i.e. Integrated Research Application System, not Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore) is an umbrella system for applying for the permissions and approvals for health, social, or community care research in the UK. Not much help to you in Chennai.

https://www.myresearchproject.org.uk/Signin.aspx

I am organising an International Ethics Committee. Please discuss here or at [email protected]

All eligible researchers are welcome to apply and act as a member to read/approve/follow the ethical approval.

Related article

https://scientiaricerca.com/srohde/SROHDE-01-000026.php

Website of the Committee

https://researchinstitutionalreviewboard.com/

Cheers,

Cecilia

This discussion is very helpful for me! I've been thinking of this question for a long time because I'm not 100% sure that I can manage to get a faculty job after I graduate. However, even I cannot stay in university, I will still definitely continue doing research! Jason B Luoma Thank you Dr.Luoma and Cecilia Young Dr.Young. Your answers gave me some nice solutions!