Form for ethical review of student projects involving human
subjects
When a research project involving human subjects is conducted, it is vitally important that it
is carried out in an ethically acceptable way. Therefore, at Högskolan Dalarna there is a
Research Ethics Committee, the duty of which is to ensure that research at the undergraduate
and graduate level is carried out according to ethical research principles and requirements.
Your supervisor can give you information about the principles and requirements for research
ethics at Högskolan Dalarna. This information is also available in a recorded lecture that you
can download from the Research Ethics Committee’s home page (www.du.se/forskningsetik).
If you or your supervisor judges your investigation to be ethically problematic, or believe it to
involve ethical problems, it has to be ethically reviewed. This means that you submit an
application to the Research Ethics Committee, which will examine the study and determine
whether or not it may be carried out and what alterations are required to allow it to be
realized.
To make it easier to decide whether you need to submit an application to the Research Ethics
Committee, there is a form below that can help you. If you answer “yes” or ”perhaps” to any
of the questions, you must discuss whether you need to submit an ethics application with your
supervisor.
If you have any questions that your supervisor is unable to answer, contact the chair of the
committee.
Application forms and instructions can be found at the committee’s home page:
www.du.se/forskningsetik
Form for ethical examination of student projects involving human
subjects
Title of the project:
Student/students:
Supervisor:
Yes
1
Can the informed consent of participants be called into
question; that is, does the study involve children, people with
cognitive disabilities or mental illnesses, or persons with
some sort of dependent relationship on those carrying out the
study (for example, students or patients of the researcher)?
2
Is there any reason why the participants in the study would
not be able to give full informed consent (that is, that the
participants would not receive full information about the
study and/or would be unable to refuse to participate)?
3
Does the research involve any form of physical procedure on
the participants?
4
Might the research have any physical or psychological effect
on the participants (for example, re-awaken traumatic
memories)?
5
Is biological material from a living or deceased person used
(for example, a blood sample)?
6
Do you intend to process sensitive personal data which will
be saved in a database or register?
According to the Personal Data Act (PUL –
personuppgiftslagen), sensitive personal data includes data
which is concerned with health, sexuality, ethnicity, political
opinions, religious or philosophical convictions and
membership in a labour union.
7
Do you intend to process personal data related to criminal
acts, judgements in a criminal case, coercive punishment
measures, and/or the administrative deprivation of freedom
that will be saved in a database or register?
Ratified by Research Ethics Committee 2009-04-03
Perhaps
No