Research Ethics
Any research or study conducted at UBC facilities (including UBC's affiliated hospitals) or undertaken by persons connected to the University that involves human participation or data must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate Research Ethics Board. (For animal studies, please see the Animal Care Committee website). Review and approval must be completed before the research starts. Both master's and doctoral students are responsible for ensuring that approval has been obtained for any research they may be involved in.
For work with humans, the Office of Research Ethics has prepared a checklist to help you determine whether or not you require research ethics review. Please download "Human Research Ethics Requirements Checklist for Graduate Students" from the BREB Guidance Notes page.
Certificate Numbers in Thesis
The numbers of the UBC Certificates of Ethical Approval for all research involving humans or animals reported in your thesis must be listed in the Preface. Please include the number of the original certificate pertaining to the research in your thesis, and the numbers of the certificates for any significant changes or additions that were approved.
NOTE: Please do not include copies of certificates in your thesis.
Personal Information
The final copy of your thesis must be free of all personal information as defined in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Please see UBC Access and Privacy for more information.
“Personal information” is defined as “recorded information about an identifiable individual”, e.g. biographical, financial, educational and employment information. As an exception, the name and work contact information of an employee is NOT considered to be personal information. However, you MUST have permission from research participants before including their names or other information about them in the Acknowledgements. Once your thesis is in the Library's electronic repository, cIRcle, you will not be able to make changes.
Signatures are considered to be personal information, and must be removed from the final copy of the thesis.