Going through dissertations, I came across one which referenced the IRB approval when researching secondary public data. My university only has an IRB process for research involving human subjects (such as in a clinical setting). It does not have anything for dealing with non-human sources. What should I do under these circumstances?
Thank you in advance for your time and response.
If you are collecting secondary data for a research purpose (for example, health records), then it entails REB review. In addition, in most cases, journals will request an ethical declaration (details of the REB, reference number etc.). If you are going to publish the manuscript, best to check out from the respective REB and intended Journal.
Thank you, Yusrita Zolkefli, I am collecting secondary such as peer-reviewed journal articles from authors on theories and the like. I am not collecting health records, clinical data, surveys, interviews, or direct observation. According to my university (I am in the EU) guidelines, I only seek approval or IRB involvement if I do clinical trials or deal with human subjects. When I reached out about it earlier in this process, they were puzzled about why I needed the clearance since I was not working within the categories that would require it. I want guidance on what an appropriate ethical declaration would look like as I do not have a model from them.
If you are sure that there is no applicable EU or national or institutional ethics guidance requiring ethics review of secondary analysis of data already available (published) in the public domain, you should assume that such secondary analysis is exempt from further ethics review and state this in your work. All data sources must be fully referenced.
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