Ethical Review

All students must obtain University of Toronto research ethics approval for any new research project. Applications for approval can only be submitted after the proposal has been approved by the student’s supervisor. ​This applies to funded and non-funded research, as well as research being conducted as part of a graduate course, thesis or other degree requirement.

Students joining an ongoing project must be certain that the project has received ethics approval, and ensure that they are named in the project proposal. 

Students are advised to submit their ethics review application well in advance of their project's anticipated start date.

The Research and Innovation website offers important information for completing the application as well as its supporting documents/appendices:

• Familiarize yourself with application procedures and instructions.
• Ethics review submissions should normally not include thesis proposals, journal articles, or budgets.
• Applicants are advised to refer to the Guide for Informed Consent Documents when preparing information and consent letters/forms.
• Several guidelines have been created to assist researchers in development of ethics protocols that deal with specific disciplines or methodologies (e.g., participant observation, use of deception and debriefing) and general topics (e.g., compensation).
• If you are applying for delegated review, be sure to provide an explanation of why your submission qualifies. The main criterion that is used to determine whether a protocol may be reviewed through the delegated process is risk. Only research that meets the threshold of minimal risk may be delegated. Learn more about criterion for delegated review. 
• All research to be conducted in schools must have administrative consent/permission prior to recruitment. Some school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, require protocol review by their Research Committee before gaining administrative permission. Please contact the school board to be involved with your research for further information.