Information for applicants
Consent forms
It would normally be expected that proposed research participants would be asked to give their agreement in writing on a consent form. Ideally, the information sheet should be separate from the consent form and the Committee will wish to receive a copy of both. You should ensure that, before written consent is given, the proposed participant has been given the opportunity of reading the information sheet and asking questions about the research. For this reason, sufficient time must be provided between the request to take part and the signing of the document. Participants' signatures do not normally need to be witnessed.
Exceptionally, it may be unnecessary or inappropriate to seek written consent although this will need to be clearly justified to the Committee. For example, in cases where you are, for example, handing out questionnaires that do not ask probing questions and it is clear from the front sheet what is going to be asked then we can assume that the act of accepting the questionnaire implies consent by the respondent. There may be other situations too where provision of an information sheet would be sufficient.
Where, for good reason, written consent is not sought, you must still ensure that you give proposed research participants sufficient time to read the information about the research and ask questions.
In most cases however, you will have to supply us with a consent form. An Ethics Consent Form Template (Feb 2019 update) is available.
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Information for Applicants