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About the Research Integrity, Ethics and Governance sub-committee (REC)

The FSE Research Integrity, Ethics and Governance sub-committee provides a strategic overview of research ethics and governance issues within FSE and in relation to other faculties and the University. The sub-committee reports directly to the University Research Integrity: Ethics and Governance committee.

The committee is represented by members from each school within the FSE. Each department also has a sub-committee who review ethical applications from their respective departments.

The remit of the committee is to ethically screen all research activities within the FSE (when conducting research outside the UK, ethical permissions should be sought locally as well as through the FSE REC). 

The FSE Ethics Committee notes that there is no single accepted definition of “research” or “data”, as this can vary depending on subject and also context. For example students may be asked to “research” a subject when it is meant to simply gather information and read or consult some sources.

Therefore the operational definitions of research and data that the FSE has adopted to help us screen research projects for research ethics compliance are: 

Research is a process of inquiry that entails the collection of data and the use of reasoning to establish facts, reach conclusions and generate knowledge.

Data are materials, facts, and statistics collected together for reference or analysis via research.

Further Information

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