The Ethical Review Process

The McMaster Research Ethics Board, (MREB) evaluates applications for non-medical research. Faculty who are applying for grants with major institutions must submit an ethics application to the MREB if their research involves human subjects . Graduate students at the Ph.D. and M.A. levels also must submit an application to this REB. Sometimes undergraduate research proposals are forwarded to the MREB for review if the Student Research Ethics Committees feel there is "more than minimal risk" in the application, and thus are unable to safely evaluate it.

There are several Student Research Ethics Committees, (SRECs) in operation, representing most departments in the Faculties of Science, Humanities, and Social Science.  Faculty members who are teaching a course that involves research with human participants must submit a "course" application to the appropriate SREC. Undergraduate students doing an individual thesis as part of a course project involving research with human subjects, can also submit an application to the SREC. Course or project research cannot begin until the protocol is approved. Approval usually takes one to two weeks. A student who is doing research that is a direct extension of a faculty member's research must submit their application to the McMaster Research Ethics Board. A student from one department doing research under the supervision of a teacher from another department, must first have their protocol reviewed by their departmental SREC.