Ethics

Ethical application process

Ethical approval is required if you are conducting research which requires you to interact with humans and/or human tissue. This applies to Undergraduate Honours, Masters and PhD students as well as members of staff.

Research involving human subjects, such as questionnaire surveys and interviews, must receive formal ethical approval before any data are collected. The inclusion of unapproved data in any assessment is a breach of the Research misconduct policy.

Types of research that require ethical approval include:

surveys
questionnaires
interviews
psychology studies
case studies
invasive testing.

Research involving social media also requires ethical approval. Both researchers and participants must be fully aware that social media and social networking can have blurred boundaries regarding privacy. Researchers are responsible for ensuring that participants know that, although every effort will be made to restrict visibility, there is a potential for research done this way to become accessible to a much wider audience: once uploaded, it remains a permanent traceable online record, even if you choose to delete it later. See more information on UTREC web page Social media research.

You must obtain ethical approval in the form of an approval letter and associated code before proceeding with your research. If you are a student you will be required to bind a copy of your formal approval into your dissertation or thesis prior to submission. In addition, many journals now require evidence that ethical approval was granted in association with the work prior to accepting papers for publication.

The University Teaching and Research Ethics Committee (UTREC) is the overarching committee which delegates responsibility for the ethical review of all teaching and research activities involving human participants to each School.

The UTREC pages are an excellent source of information in relation to conducting your research. Please refer to the Integrity and ethics section for help.

The ethical application form and all associated forms can be found on the UTREC pages at Ethical review application.

The Business School Ethics Committee (SEC) is responsible for reviewing all ethics applications submitted by staff and students in the School.

SEC members
- Dr Cinla Akinci
- Dr Boyka Bratanova (convenor)
- Dr Joao Cunha
- Dr Hannah Dean
- Dr Cailean Gallagher (S1)
- Dr Peter McMillan
- Dr Ralitza Nikolaeva
- Dr Frank Siedlok
- Dr Brendan Whitty (S1)
- Dr Song Zhang.
An ethical application must be submitted by anyone undertaking research involving human participants. This also includes the use of secondary data, especially if the data is from a study using human participants. Please read the guidelines on Research involving humans thoroughly and ensure you complete all required forms. Incomplete applications will be returned without review which will delay any start to research. You must not start your research until you have received approval from the School Ethics Committee. See the UTREC web pages on research Integrity and ethics for further information on ethical principles and how they should guide the design of your research.

The ethical application form and all associated forms can be found on the UTREC pages at Ethical review application.

How to submit an ethical application
1. Complete the ethical application form and any additional forms that are required.
2. Submit a signed electronic copy of ALL forms to bschoolethics@st-andrews.ac.uk. PhD students should ensure the forms also include signatures from their supervisor(s).
3. Upon receipt of any amendments, follow the instructions provided in the email accompanying the corrections and resubmit both paper and electronic copies of ALL forms.
Every PGT student must submit an ethical application as part of the dissertation process. This application MUST be reviewed and signed by your supervisor prior to submission. Please read the UTREC web pages on research Integrity and ethics thoroughly and ensure you complete all required forms. Incomplete applications will be returned without review which will delay any start to research. The UTREC web pages on research Integrity and ethics also provide further information on ethical principles and how they should guide the design of your research. You must not start your research until you have received approval from the Department Ethics Committee.

The ethical application form and all associated forms can be found on the UTREC pages at Ethical review application.

Using secondary data

If you are exclusively collecting or using publicly available or literature based sources – known as "secondary data" – you are required to complete the first part of the ethical application form, up to and including question 8, and and follow the instructions for the answer "Yes".

How to submit an ethical application
1. Complete the ethical application form and any additional forms that are required. Forms MUST be signed by both the student and supervisor.
2. Submit an electronic copy of ALL forms to bschoolethics@st-andrews.ac.uk.
3. Upon receipt of any amendments, follow the instructions provided in the email and make the necessary amendments.
4. Submit an electronic copy of ALL forms to bschoolethics@st-andrews.ac.uk.
5. Upon receipt of your ethical approval letter, please ensure a copy of it is bound into your dissertation.
PGT ethical application submission deadlines
- You are encouraged to submit your ethical application any time from March 2025, and well in advance of the final deadline.
- Submission final deadline: TBA.
An ethical application must be completed by every student undertaking MN4301 Management Project. This application MUST be reviewed and signed by your supervisor prior to submission. Please read the UTREC web pages on research Integrity and ethics thoroughly and ensure you complete all required forms. Incomplete applications will be returned without review which will delay any start to research. The UTREC web pages on research Integrity and ethics also provide further information on ethical principles and how they should guide the design of your research. You must not start your research until you have received approval from the Department Ethics Committee.

The ethical application form and all associated forms can be found on the UTREC pages at Ethical review application.

Using secondary data

If you are exclusively collecting or using publicly available or literature based sources – known as "secondary data" – you are required to complete the first part of the ethical application form, up to and including question 8, and and follow the instructions for the answer "Yes".

How to submit an ethical application
1. Complete the ethical application form and any additional forms that are required. Forms MUST be signed by both the student and the supervisor.
2. Submit an electronic copy of ALL forms to bschoolethics@st-andrews.ac.uk.
3. Upon receipt of any amendments, follow the instructions provided in the email and make the necessary amendments.
4. Submit an electronic copy of ALL forms to bschoolethics@st-andrews.ac.uk.
5. Upon receipt of your ethical approval letter, please ensure a copy of it is bound into your dissertation.
Notes to help you fill in the boxes

Project Description

Please include information regarding what the project focuses on, who the participants will be and what their relationship to you is. Provide information about how participants will be recruited, where the research will take place and how the data will be collected (online survey, interview focus groups etc).

Ethical Considerations box

Explain what ethical issues your project may raise and how you plan to manage these issues. Include information about how you will obtain consent from participants, what type of data you will be collecting (anonymous, pseudonymised, identifiable) and when and how you plan to handle, store and destroy the data.

Start Date

This date should be two to three weeks after the date when you submitted your ethical application. You cannot start your research until you have gained ethical approval.

Location of Research

This needs to say where you are undertaking the research such as in a café in St Andrews. You cannot just state a city or country.

Ethical Statement

Provide some structure within this question, e.g. use of sub headings or bolded words.

Cover the key principles:
- fair recruitment and informed consent
- maximising potential benefits and minimising potential risks
- respecting the confidentiality of participants.
All template forms

Make sure you delete any guidance notes that were provided for your benefit. Make sure the information provided across all forms is consistent and also the type of data being collected is the same. For example, if you say on your ethical application form you will be collecting anonymised data, this should be the same on the participant information sheet, consent form and debrief form (if applicable).

Data Destruction

Consider how long you will need to keep the data from your research.

PGT students are expected to destroy their data three months after the completion of their dissertation unless a compelling argument is made to keep it. For other researchers, asking for permission to keep data indefinitely from the start will help to prevent problems later.

Online Surveys and questionnaires

Use the opening statement provided by UTREC for online surveys or questionnaires that pose minimal ethical risks. See Online surveys or questionnaires which includes a template opening statement and further guidance on research using an online survey or questionnaire.

Ethics

Ethical application process

Business School Ethics Committee

Staff and PhD ethical applications

PGT ethical applications

Undergraduate ethical applications

How to fill in your application form