Conducting research with human participants (outside the NHS)
All Queen Mary researchers (staff and students) conducting and leading on research* with human participants, their personal data and/or human tissue outside the NHS REC remit need to apply for ethics approval.
Queen Mary Ethics of Research Committee (QMERC) provides ethical scrutiny of research studies led by Queen Mary researchers. Ethics approval ensures that the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of all participants are the primary consideration of the research project. It ensures that research at Queen Mary is always conducted with full awareness of the ethical issues, and necessary precautions are taken to preserve the highest ethical standards.
To ensure that high ethical standards are maintained, policies and procedures must be followed. Policy 2b: Queen Mary policy on research with human participants [PDF 136KB]
QMERC reviews any study involving non-NHS data, primary data collection outside the NHS and data collection using social media.
For more information on the various review routes, please see our flowchart on Flowchart 1 Routes to ethics review [PDF 41KB]Flowchart 1 Routes to ethics review [PDF 41KB]. If you are unclear whether ethics approval is required, either from QMERC or another Research Ethics committee, please contact us.
*Research is defined as any form of disciplined inquiry that aims to contribute to a body of knowledge or theory (UKRI).
QMERC Exemptions – when ethics approval from QMERC is not needed
There are some activities involving human participants that do not require QMERC review and approval because they are not classified as research, or because they do not fall within our scope, these are:
- Audits
- Service evaluations
- Public involvement and engagement
- Secondary data analysis on publicly available data (excluding social media data)
For more guidance see Is my study research, audit, evaluation? [PDF 34KB]
Please note that if your study falls within the remit of NHS REC/HRA review you will have to obtain it before starting your study. This is different to QMERC approval. Please contact the JRMO Governance team and see more information on the JRMO webpages.