Research ethics and integrity

All research carried out by staff and students in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics must comply with the University of Sheffield’s research ethics policy and procedures. A full account of these can be found at http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/other/gov-ethics/index .

Research involving human participants is subject to our ethics review procedure. Reviews are conducted within the School and co-ordinated by the School’s principal ethics contact, Professor Joan Beal (j.c.beal@shef.ac.uk). The whole process is overseen by the University’s Research Ethics Committee. It is important that all projects involving human participants are approved before the research begins.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students should discuss their projects with their module convenor or dissertation supervisor in the first instance. There are separate application forms for undergraduate and taught postgraduate (MA) students on the one hand and for research students and staff on the other. Both these forms can be downloaded from the Research and Innovation Services website at http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ris/other/gov-ethics/ethicspolicy/further-guidance/universityprocedure2

You should allow a minimum of two weeks between applying for ethical approval and beginning your research, as some projects will need to be read by up to three reviewers.