REB Review at USask

Behavioural REB

Biomedical REB
Meeting dates and deadlines 2024 Meeting dates and deadlines (2023, 2024)

Board members

 Board members (REB 1, REB 2)

Policies

Guidelines

Standard Operating Procedures

100 General Administration (101-108)

200 REB Organization (201-204)

300 Functions and Operations (301-303)

400 Reviews of Research (401-407)

500 Reviews Requiring Special Consideration (501-503)

600 REB Communication and Notification (601-602)

700 Informed Consent (701)

800 Responsibilities of Investigators (801)

900 Quality Management (901-903)

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Research During the COVID19 Pandemic

Human Ethics applications that include in person activities may require extra considerations to safeguard participants from COVID-19 transmission. This also applies to amendments where the protocol is changing from virtual to in-person research activities.

Please include in your application/amendment form a description of protocols that will be in place to manage the risk of viral transmission. If no such protocols are required or necessary, please indicate that in your application/amendment instead, along with a brief explanation of why the project doesn’t require them. Please consider the following:

  • Protocols must meet the minimum requirements for the location of the research activities.
  • Where participants will be particularly vulnerable (e.g., due to advanced age or co-morbidities), it may be prudent to have protocols that exceed the requirements at the location.
  • It may help to consult the guidance document and template below when drafting your plan.
  • Please ensure that your consent material includes a brief description of any protocols you are following, such as masking, screening questions, and a description of how (and for how long) you will store participants’ contact information if you are keeping it for contact tracing.

 How to Submit

  • Download and complete the appropriate form and submit, with all supporting documents, to ethics.office@usask.ca.
  • CC the principal investigator on the submission email.
  • Submit any revised documents (i.e., amendment or response to a notice of ethical review) with tracked changes.
  • Please note:
    • If you have been assigned an Ethics ID# include the # on the submission email and associated forms.
    • Scanned forms cannot be accepted.
    • The University of Saskatchewan REBs require that all students complete the TCPS2 Tutorial (CORE) and that all students involved in chart review or data abstraction complete the McMaster Chart Review Tutorial. Please submit the certificate(s) of completion for all students.

 Questions? Contact us at 306-966-2975 or ethics.office@usask.ca

 Behavioural Application Form:

Behavioural Amendment Form:

Course-Based Research Application Form:

The Tri-Council Policy Statement 2 places under REB purview pedagogical activities involving human participants that are conducted by students as part of a course: "[The REB's scope] includes course-based research activities, the primary purpose of which is pedagogical, because of the possible risks to those recruited to participate in such activities, and the fact that, from their perspective, such activities may appear indistinguishable from those that meet this Policy's definition of research.”

The Application for Review of Course-Based Research can be used for courses where students are engaging in research activities solely for pedagogical purposes. This application can NOT be used for thesis or dissertation projects, including at the undergraduate level.

The Application for Review of Course-Based Research allows the Behavioural Research Ethics Board and Biomedical Research Ethics Board to provide REB approval to the course instructor for the general form and content of course-based research activities. The REB then delegates responsibility to the instructor for ensuring that students’ specific processes and project materials adhere to the REB approved application and the TCPS2. 

Please note that the course-based approval is for one year, and can be renewed twice. After three years, a new course-based application form must be submitted for review.

Behavioural Consent Form Templates/Guides:

Behavioural Consent Form Templates/Guides for Research Using an Online Videoconferencing Service:

Behavioural Renewal and Closure Forms:

Behavioural Protocol Deviation Form:

Research During the COVID19 Pandemic

Human Ethics applications that include in person data collection will require extra considerations to safeguard the wellbeing of the participants during the pandemic.

 How to Submit

  • Download and complete the appropriate form and submit, with all supporting documents, to ethics.office@usask.ca.
  • CC the principal investigator on the submission email.
  • Submit any revised documents (i.e., amendment or response to a notice of ethical review) with tracked changes.
  • Please note:
    • If you have been assigned an Ethics ID# include the # on the submission email and associated forms.
    • Scanned forms cannot be accepted.
    • The University of Saskatchewan REBs require that all students complete the TCPS2 Tutorial (CORE) and that all students involved in chart review or data abstraction complete the McMaster Chart Review Tutorial. Please submit the certificate(s) of completion for all students.

 Questions? Contact us at 306-966-2975 or ethics.office@usask.ca

 Biomedical Application Forms/Guides:

Biomedical Consent Form Templates/Guides:

Biomedical Renewal and Closure Forms:

Biomedical Post-Approval Reporting:

 

Provincial Reciprocity and Multi-Jurisdictional Research

The Research Ethics Boards (REB) in the province of Saskatchewan have moved to a policy of full reciprocity. Approval by an REB at University of Saskatchewan, University of Regina, or Saskatchewan Health Authority will be accepted by the REBs at the other two institutions without the need for additional REB review, provided the protocol is identical in its content and activities. Please note that there are criteria for determining which REB is the one that you must seek approval from (it is not necessarily your home institution), so before you begin preparing your REB application, please check in with the staff at your local REB office for guidance. 

For all other Canadian institutions, the USask REBs may provide a Letter of Acknowledgement of the primary institution’s approval, rather than perform a second review. More information is available on knowledge base.

Plese consult the TCPS2 (2022) - Chapter 8 regarding Multi-Jurisdictional research.

Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) Operational Approval to Conduct Research: Review and approval of research projects that impact or affects any SHA resources/facility(s). This includes all research projects conducted by SHA employees.

The requirements for obtaining SHA Operational Approval (OA) for research are twofold:

  1. Assurance of research ethics approval from the appropriate Research Ethics Board (REB) must be provided before OA can be granted. Research ethics approval must be obtained from one of the following Saskatchewan Research Ethics Boards: SHA (located in Regina), University of Regina or University of Saskatchewan. Do not submit your SHA Operational Approval application until AFTER the REB application has been submitted for review to the appropriate REB.
  2. The Principal Investigator (PI) must complete and submit the SHA Application for Operational Approval to Conduct a Research Study. The purpose of the application is to ensure that research using SHA or affiliated resources or patients occurs with the approval of the appropriate authorities, as well as to ensure that all research occurring within the SHA meets the requirements of the applicable policies, legislation, and guidelines for conducting responsible research. It is essential to determine whether the SHA has the appropriate resources in place to support the research question or hypothesis, that the areas being affected have an opportunity to review the project details and assess their impact, and to ensure that all necessary ethical and operational processes have been completed prior to the commencement of the project.
Please note: A waiver of REB review does not guarantee a waiver of the need for OA. If your research study is exempt from REB review, you must contact the Research Approval Coordinator to determine if an application for OA is necessary.

 

Research Approval Coordinator Contact Information:

Regina/South: researchapproval.regina@saskhealthauthority.ca , telephone: (306)766-0893

Saskatoon/North: researchapproval.saskatoon@saskhealthauthority.ca, telephone: (306)-655-1442

How do I submit my ethics application to the USask Research Ethics Boards?

All submissions can be submitted via email at ethics.office@usask.ca.

Does your project require human ethics review and approval?

University of Saskatchewan Research Ethics Boards (REBs) operate in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans - TCPS 2 (2022) and the University of Saskatchewan Policies and Procedures for Ethics in Human Research (June 2013).

The following list represents a broad overview of the range of research projects or situations that would require review and approval by the REB:

  • Research that will be published.
  • Projects where participants are from inside or outside the university.
  • Research that is funded or unfunded.  Funding may be internal or external.
  • Research that is conducted by students or faculty.
  • Research projects that are conducted inside or outside the institution.
  • Information that is collected directly from participants or from existing records not in the public domain.
  • Projects that are conducted in person or remotely (e.g., mail, electronic mail, fax, online video conferencing, or telephone).
  • Research designs that are observational, experimental, correctional, or descriptive.
  • Review is still required even if a similar project has been approved elsewhere.
  • Pilot studies or fully developed projects undergo the same review process.
  • The primary goal of the research is for teaching or training purposes, or the acquisition of knowledge

To which REB do I submit my application?

The University has established two Research Ethics Boards (REBs), which have defined Terms and Conditions of Appointment for Members and Chairs. The appropriate REB must approve any project involving the use of human participants.

The Biomedical Research Ethics Board (Bio-REB) is responsible for the review of all protocols involving human participants which include:

  • medically invasive physical procedures, invasive interventions and invasive measures (includes administration and testing of drugs); physical interventions that have the potential for adverse effects such as drug, exercise and dietary interventions; surgical procedures such as biopsies, the collection of blood or other specimens;
  • use of permanent charts or records in accordance with provincial legislation.

The Behavioural Research Ethics Board (Beh-REB) is responsible for the review of all protocols involving human participants which include:

  • non-invasive interventions and measures including interviews, surveys, questionnaires, psychological, social or behavioural interventions, non-invasive physiological measures (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure);
  • observation or descriptive research, including drug, dietary, and exercise protocols that are observational in nature with no intervention;
  • audio and/or video recording or other monitoring.

The Research Ethics Office may determine that an ethics application is more appropriately reviewed by one REB than the other and reserves the right to move the ethics application to the REB with the most appropriate expertise to conduct the review. In those cases the researcher will be consulted and informed of the transfer. No new submission will be required, but additional information may be requested.

With the increasing numbers of multidisciplinary research projects and the use of mixed methods, research ethics submissions that combine elements of both biomedical and behavioural research are becoming more common. An ethics application using mixed methods will be reviewed by the REB with the best expertise in the methods that may impose the greater risk to a research participant from either a biomedical or behavioral standpoint. Where appropriate, the Biomedical and Behavioural REB may collaborate in the ethics review of the submission.


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