The Approval Process

Once an application has been received and acknowledged by MREB Secretariat, it takes from two to three weeks for the application to be reviewed. The McMaster Research Ethics Board is composed of twenty-four members mostly from a broad range of disciplines with at least one member knowledgeable in ethics and some recruited from the community served by McMaster but having no affiliation with it. If an application is submitted that poses what is considered "minimal risk", it will be sent to several members for expedited review. 

If the REB is about to meet, as it does monthly, a protocol could go to the full REB for review, which requires a quorum for approval.  Full REB review is often reserved only for more than "minimal risk" research.  The McMaster Research Ethics Board has a "Terms of Reference" that it follows.  Departments that compose Student Research Ethics Committees (SRECs), also have their own Terms of Reference which are approved by the MREB. When a protocol is approved by the MREB, the researcher is sent a certificate of approval from the Chair, signifying that the research can begin. 

Applications reviewed by the REB may be approved without questions or requests for modification; approved subject to clarification and/or modification (conditionally approved); be deferred pending major revisions or clarifications, or be rejected. The REB encourages ongoing discussion with the researcher to resolve outstanding ethical concerns in order that the study may be approved. However, an application that is rejected can be appealed and there are procedures for doing so.  See the < Appeals Board > for more information.

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