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The Global Development Research Ethics sub-Committee (DEV S-REC) has been set up to ensure that research conducted in global development meets generally accepted ethical principles and any legal requirements.
In undertaking research, we are often working in environments where both formal and informal institutional arrangements may make research participants particularly vulnerable, both with respect to defending their own personal integrity and position and also exposing them to the risk of repercussions from participation in the research. It is important that the safety and wellbeing of research participants and researchers are assured, that the researcher is aware of any possible ethical issues in carrying out the research and that steps have been taken to ensure that best practice is followed. On behalf of all researchers in Global Development at UEA, we have introduced a set of procedures to ensure that the University's guidelines in relation to the ethical conduct of research are followed. This includes submission of applications for ethical clearance of proposed research via the University’s Ethics Monitor system.
Almost all DEV research that involves primary data collection or the use of secondary data that contain personal or confidential/restricted information requires ethical clearance. Further guidance can be found on the University’s Research Integrity and Ethics webpages.
The researcher is responsible for checking whether their proposed study requires ethical clearance. Where clearance is required, it must be obtained BEFORE any data is collected. Data that is collected without ethical approval being in place MAY NOT BE USED. Retrospective ethical approval is only given in extraordinary cases and requests for this are likely to be refused.