HREC applicant checklist

You may wish to use this checklist as a guide when completing your Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) application forms.

If you have any queries, please contact the HREC mailbox.

Please use the following prompts as you complete your application. These are the areas the HREC reviewers will look for when reviewing your application.

Investigators

Include names and institutional attachments of all persons involved in the collection and handling of data.

Doctoral researchers (PhD or Professional Doctorate) should name themselves as PI and include a supervisor’s electronic signature. Without this the application cannot be processed. Reviewers will look for any comments as evidence of supervisor support.

Current or alumni students, even those on Affiliated Researcher Schemes, should not be named as PIs, but can be included as a member of the team.

Project title

The project title should be short, clear and descriptive.

If the title has the potential to be sensitive if received on participant-facing documentation, consider adapting this for such use and offering an alternative title.

Abstract

Offer a summary of the main points of the research, written in terms easily understandable by a non-specialist and containing no complex technical terms (maximum 200 words).

Be transparent about any use of AI in authorship/putting together the application.

Schedule

Explain the plan for the research in enough detail that it shows how it will be carried out in a timely manner.

Consider offering a timeline for each phase of a multi-method project, and consider whether there will be multiple applications/amendments to HREC for sequential phases of a project. This might be particularly appropriate in projects which start with a co-design phase and/or one phase depends on the outcomes of an earlier phase. You could offer the timeline as a diagram as a supplementary document.

Methodology

Clarify your positionality with regard to the setting (insider/outsider) and hence familiarity with it. If an outsider, ask how you have or will become familiar with the setting, for example whether there are any cultural sensitivities that will need to be taken into account, or appropriate local safeguarding expectations/protocols to follow on behalf of the participants.

Be clear about the method(s) that will be employed to collect and analyse data. Any relevant documents, such as interview or survey questions, topics guides for focus groups, and a participant information sheet, should be submitted as supplementary documents, or promised with an amendment if the instrument has yet to be designed.

Provide evidence of communications prior to providing participant information to those interested e.g. gatekeeper communications, invitation fliers, emails.

If your research involves a survey, include participant information and consent statements at the start of the survey. There is an online survey consent template (like all templates, also available in Welsh) on the HREC website. This should prominently display the submission deadline for responses to be included in the findings, so that potential participants do not waste time answering questions when they are too late to be incorporated.

Check your documents for applicants are worded for ease of access by a non-specialist.

Make clear any plans for use of AI in the design and/or conduct in the research.

Access to the setting

Explain, with details of where and when data will be collected, for example, if it will take place on private, corporate or institutional premises, and why the research needs to be conducted in the chosen setting or location.

Identify gatekeepers, where relevant, and provide information of any approvals that have been gained by adding to the supplementary documentation. Consider using and adapting the template on the HREC website. Please note any concerns which have been identified by gatekeepers or requests made which you have or plan to accommodate.

For partnership research, refer to any collaborative agreements in place.

For research in non-UK settings and/or non-HEI settings, refer to any local ethical approval processes needed and on the progress with these, where relevant.

Consider if any courtesy communications have been thought useful for awareness-raising about the project to pre-empt relevant parties finding out about the project without a means to ask questions/raise concerns, to prepare the ground for any potential difficult findings. Include these communications as supplementary documentation.

Participants

Give details of the population targeted or from which you will be sampling and how this sampling will be done. Give information on the diversity of the sample. Information on participants should include:

Age (i.e. above or below the age of consent, and assent needs to be considered alongside consent)
Whether any participants are vulnerable adults, checking that carers/guardians/advocates are available in support of offering assent/consent

Offer later in the application your plan for support mechanisms/protocols are if participants become distressed, particularly when involving those below the age of consent and vulnerable adults.

Where relevant, if your project is planning to draw on student data sets, evidence your awareness of, or progress towards, contacting the Business Intelligence (BI) (internal link only) team by making a Data Request (internal link only). If you require institutional data regarding student performance on modules and qualifications for your research, and need more detailed information than is available on one of the dashboards (internal link only), you can submit a request using the Data Request form (internal link only).

Recruitment procedures

Provide details of how potential participants will be identified/chosen and how they will be approached. If you want to restrict the sample, offer a clear justification and explanation to potential participants in participant-facing documentation. Provide inclusion/exclusion criteria. For any projects targeting participants using special category personal data, show awareness of 2025 guidance 'Using special category personal data compliantly' (internal link only).

If there is any possibility for coercion, demonstrate how this has been addressed. For example, recognize any power imbalances where the participants are known to the researchers either personally or professionally.

Make clear to potential participants the time commitment expected of them and their right to decline to offer any particular information.

If your recruitment procedures may result in more volunteers than are required for the project, offer selection criteria that will be used and state how these will be explained to non-selected volunteers.

Share all invitation communications as supplementary documentation.

If any recruitment includes current Open University (OU) students being asked about the experiences of study, ensure an application to the Student Research Project Panel (SRPP) is in process or complete and indicate this on the HREC form.

Where relevant to recruitment of students, show awareness of the guidance on use of social media and online forums.

If any recruitment involves approaching over 30 OU staff, ensure an application to the Staff Survey Project Panel (SSPP) is in process or complete and indicate this on the HREC form.

Recompense to participants

Provide details of any recompense which will be offered to participants or volunteers, e.g. a small payment or gift voucher, and explain how this was decided to be appropriate for the context and time invested. Be clear at what point and how the recompense will be made available, including on participant-facing documentation.

Where relevant, show awareness of OU guidance for rewarding students for their contributions.

Clarify the source of funding for any vouchers when the research is not externally-funded to demonstrate feasibility.

Consent

Provide in the supplementary documentation section consent forms and information sheets, usually with one set per participant group, or explain why any are omitted or merged. Consent forms for online surveys are usually included at the start of the survey and can be included with the survey instrument.

Please check that these participant-facing documents:

Include PI contact details for queries (and any withdrawal requests)
Include an alternative contact (usually OU) independent of the research team to whom participants are directed for any concerns
Use only OU email addresses and project telephone numbers
Explain all acronyms
Include clear information on how and when a participant may withdraw from the research, without affecting their rights and the success of the research project? For example, a date by when after a certain point, e.g. the data gathering phase, it may not be possible for participants to withdraw, particularly if the data has been anonymised
Include separate forms for each participant group (unless justified otherwise)
Include information on how research data will be stored and disseminated/published
Ensure all information sheets and consent forms include the statement: ‘This project has been reviewed by, and received a favourable opinion from, The Open University Human Research Ethics Committee, reference HREC/xxxx’ unless the project has been considered to be exempt, for which an alternative statement is available

If the project has been funded, include in consent forms the following statement: ‘This project is funded by xxxxxxx’

If you are offering to share a summary of results with participants, consent forms should include a means for participants to indicate that they would like to receive the summary, and space provided to write their email address, so they can be sent the summary. Storage of these contact details should be included in the data protection application and Research Data Management Plan.

In order to comply with UK GDPR/Data Protection Act (2018) regulations, consent forms should provide participants with the opportunity to explicitly opt in to each element of the research that will be released into the public domain e.g. a quote from an interview, and hence to each research method for data gathering.

Verbal consent, rather than in a written format, is an option but not normative practice and, if proposed, justify its use and offer a mechanism for recording this consent, agreed as part of the Research Data Management Plan.

Be clear about how a participant can withdraw and the date they can do so by.

Explain how ongoing consent is being planned for by adding verbal protocols to the start of each in-person or online research instrument, such as observations, interviews and focus groups.

Literature review

Offer sufficient information to confirm that the project is building on existing published research and is contributing to filling a gap in knowledge.

Which guidelines will be followed?

Show awareness of and commitment to OU Policies relating to ethical research policies.

Provide information on discipline-relevant guidelines which will be followed. These now also include guidance for internet-based research from the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR), guidance relevant to autoethnographic research, and the TRUST Global Code of Conduct.

Look for opportunities to show how the selected guidelines fit with the research decisions you have made.

Data protection and information security

Demonstrate that you have addressed data protection and information security adequately.

Refer to UK GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act (2018) on participant information (rather than just GDPR)

Where research involves the collection of information about individuals, confirm that the project is being registered with the University’s Data Protection Coordinator, indicating this as complete or in process, on the HREC form. Advice on Data Protection team processes can be found on the OU's Information Rights intranet (internal link only).

Where relevant, confirm that any audio/video recorded data has been classified as personal data and is included in the application to the Data Protection team.

Where relevant, confirm that any contact details collected for further contact and/or dissemination of the findings are included in the application to the Data Protection team.

Where relevant, show awareness of and reference to Data Protection team (2025) guidance 'Using special category personal data compliantly' (internal link only).

Where relevant, confirm that data protection advice for transferring data to other organisations or processing children’s data requirements for specific activities (internal link only) has been followed.

Where relevant, evidence awareness of OU information security policy and guidance on online tool use, and demonstrate that any third party tools not covered by blanket approvals for use by OU staff and PGRs, have been covered by completing the third party tool request use (internal link only) (or this approval is in process).

Where relevant, in partnership research, check that the OU role (and any partner role) in personal and special category data use is clear on participant-facing documentation, and matches any collaborative agreement and your agreed information asset register entry.

Research data management

Ensure participants are being given accurate information and/or will be asked to give permission for the research data to be re-used and/or published.

As there is now a requirement for project teams to complete a Data Management Plan (DMP) to be hosted on Open Research Data Online (ORDO) or The Scholarship Exchange (the SE), depending on whether research or scholarship. Evidence where you are in this process. The links to ORDO/the SE can be added now or later on the HREC form. DMP guidance and templates are available on the Library Research Support website, or by emailing the library research support team.

Confirm any funding body requirements.

Most storage dates for data should be for a minimum of 10 years, as explained in the combined Data Protection team and Library Research Support team advice about retaining research-related documents and data (including consent forms). If different to this, offer a rationale.

Confirm any processing of data by alumni/Affiliated Researchers is covered in the Research Data Management Plan, and if personal/special category data is involved, in your Data Protection application.

Deception

Evidence your awareness of and details of any information withheld from participants, or misrepresentation or other deception, that is an integral part of the research.

Where used, fully justify any such deception.

Reflect on whether participants may feel coerced when they find out about any such deception, and your mitigation of this.

Terrorism or extremism related issues

Confirm whether your research project involves terrorism or extremism related issues. If it does, show awareness of this and that a Terrorism and Extremism related research registration form (internal link only) has been completed. You are advised of this on the application form. (Please note the review of this is separate from the ethics review process).

Risk of harm

Provide evidence of having identified foreseen risks to participants.

Provide evidence that you have considered risks to yourselves as researchers, e.g. by home visits/lone working or dealing with sensitive topics.

Based on these risk assessments, identify anything not explicitly covered elsewhere on the form.

Detail steps that will be taken to minimise or counter each risk.

If the proposed project involves contact with children or other vulnerable groups, provide evidence of your awareness of and application of your safeguarding responsibilities.

If your project involves OU students and/or staff, show commitment to comply with the OU Safeguarding Policy and Processes.

If participants are in institutions, identify local safeguarding protocols in the case of disclosures and commit to following these.

If participants are not covered by either category above, treat them as members of the public. Provide a protocol for acting on any emergency situations.

Where relevant, make clear on participant-facing documentation limitations to confidentiality related to the above process(s).

Show awareness of the requirements of the Disclosure and Barring Service. Provide the relevant reference number and period covered - for each person involved in the research. You can apply for DBS clearance through contacting the Operational Enablement team.

Share information and any contacts provided for participants for emotional support if needed.

Provide a distress protocol should you consider it needed during the research.

Where relevant, clarify support is in place for you as researchers.

Debriefing

Provide evidence that you have considered debriefing, as it is good practice for researchers to provide details of how, after data collection, information will be given to participants to inform them of the outcomes of their participation and the research more broadly.

Where relevant, share the debriefing documentation and/or plans.

Research organisation and funding

Provide details of any funding (either internal or external) you are applying for/or which has been awarded. The Award Management System (AMS) number should be provided if applicable.

Declare any conflicts of interest or requirements/issues related to a particular funder.

Other project-related risks

Identify any additional risks associated with your project, which have not been identified elsewhere in the proposal.

Where relevant, if you are carrying out fieldwork in the UK or overseas, show awareness of the OU Fieldwork guidance (internal link only) and your commitment to following Faculty risk assessment guidance.

Show your awareness of research settings and outline any particular decisions considered as locally-appropriate to demonstrate your commitment to show respect to communities and cultures, whether in the Global South or recognising diversity and marginalisation wherever this exists.

If the project involves OU-led events, show your awareness of and commitment to responsibilities under the PREVENT Code of Practice for Events.

Show evidence that consideration has been given to any risks to the environment which are within the agency of the research team. In particular, to help meet the OU commitment to the Concordat for Environmental Sustainability in Research and Innovation Practice priorities indicate any decisions made about priority area for delivery numbers 3. Sustainable procurement, 4. Emissions from business and academic travel and 5. Related to collaborations and partnerships.

Benefits and knowledge transfer

Clearly communicate anticipated benefits to gatekeepers and participants to play a part in maximising recruitment.

Show evidence of pathways to achieving impact, as important to funders (internal and external), are being considered in project planning as commitments. Amendments for impact-specific activities can be submitted to HREC following an initial application through the online system.

Evidence clear dissemination plans and communicate these to participants in as much detail as possible.

Supporting documents

Attach all supporting documents to the online form.

Research environment