You should be notified via email of the committee review group’s decision within 10 working days of the committee receiving your application from the ECO (Ethics Compliance Officer).
The HREC considers each application and gives a final decision of:
1. Approved
You may begin your research project.
2. Approved subject to certain conditions
You will need to make the required changes and then submit your amended application to the review committee for consideration.
3. Not approved
If you are invited to resubmit you will need to do so in accordance with the review committee's feedback.
If you are not invited to resubmit, you may appeal this decision by stating your concerns, in writing, to the Chair of HREC via the Human Research Ethics Office.
REMINDER: The research activity must not commence until ethics approval is finalised.
Human Research Ethics Committee approval is granted based on the conditions outlined at https://i.unisa.edu.au/staff/research/research-ethics/human-research-ethics/standard-conditions-of-approval/
Details for modifying or deviating from your approved research project are available here.
Reporting requirements for your approved research project are available here.
Details for how to apply for an extension for your approved research project are available here.
For information regarding the ownership and management of research data – including data management plans, collection, storage, access, retention requirements and disposal – please refer to the following University webpages:
University Policy on Ownership and Retention of Data
Resources for Research Data Management
In terms of data ownership and access, please consider if there are any rights and conditions relating to this in relevant agreements or contracts with, e.g., funding agencies, partners or collaborators.
Even in situations where an agreement or contract is not in place, you may need to consider the terms and conditions of a public or private data repository or website, and/or to seek written permission from an organisation who owns or controls the data you intend to access and utilise.
Maximising the visibility of your research through Open Access
Open access (OA) is where published scholarly output is made accessible online without charge. Access includes the right to download, read, copy, re-use, distribute and display material subject to the proper citation and acknowledgement of authorship. It is important to consider open access prior to submitting ethics applications, in the context of having the right checks in place to ensure the findings of your research can be made publicly accessible.
The UniSA Open Access Policy mandates the deposit of the accepted manuscript (final, peer reviewed version of the manuscript without any publisher formatting) to the UniSA Research Outputs Repository by the author within one month of acceptance for publication. The Library checks copyright and will only make this version available once any publisher embargoes have expired, therefore making this version accessible to the public. Compliance with this policy automatically confers compliance with ARC and NHMRC open access mandates.”
Details for reporting Adverse or Reportable Events related to your approved research project are available here.
All Human Research Ethics applications are reviewed by the appropriate committee and researchers are expected to undertake the research according to the approved application. If you have a complaint or concern about an approved research project, then we would like to know. Please contact
Executive Officer
UniSA Human Research Ethics Committee
Tel: 08 8302 6330; Email: humanethics@unisa.edu.au
The Executive Officer will ensure the information is handled in a confidential manner and discussed with the HREC Chair/Deputy Chair as soon as possible. Depending on the nature of the issue identified, an investigation will be undertaken in consultation with the appropriate parties.
The Human Research Ethics Complaints process is detailed in section 1.6 of the Human Research Ethics policy.