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Human Social Science Ethics

Open Research Calls

Overview Of HSSREC

The UKZN Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC) operates under the mandate of the Senate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, guided by the University Research Ethics Policy and the National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC).

HSSREC’s primary purpose is to safeguard the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of all human participants involved in non-biomedical research.

All research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by an accredited human research ethics committee prior to the start of any research activities in accordance with the National Health Act No 61.2003. It is a legal and institutional requirement that anyone affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal obtains ethical approval from HSSREC before initiating research involving human participants.

HSSREC conducts independent, prospective, and ongoing ethics reviews for all social sciences and humanities research projects undertaken by UKZN staff, registered students, affiliates, and external collaborators, regardless of discipline.

Given that a considerable portion of humanities and social sciences research at UKZN qualifies as Health Research under the National Health Act (Act 61 of 2004), HSSREC is registered with and accredited by the South African Department of Health’s National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC REC 040414-040). For more information, visit NHREC’s website.

The review of ethics applications takes place throughout the year and gets processed in the Research Information Gateway (RIG) system.

All HSSREC applications must be submitted through the UKZN Research Information Gateway (RIG) portal at https://rig.ukzn.ac.za.

Applicants who wish to work offline before submitting their application in the system can download a copy of the main application below. However, please note that this does not replace the requirement to complete all necessary sections on the RIG platform. HSSREC does not accept manual applications.

Amendments to approved protocols may not be implemented without prior HSSREC approval unless participant or other stakeholders’ safety is at stake and the issues have been discussed with the HSSREC Chair or Deputy chair in the absence of the Chair.  All protocol amendments must be applied for in RIG, within the main application.

According to its Terms of Reference and Standard Operating Procedures and South African Department of Health Research Ethics Guidelines, HSSREC must review all HSSREC approved ongoing research projects at least annually. Researchers must submit a renewal application on RIG at least two months before current HSSREC approval expires. If the required information is not received by the deadline date, the application may not be reviewed and recertified in time, leading to noncompliance with HSSREC Terms of Reference and possible suspension of the study until the study is recertified.

All new ethics applicants must submit Research Ethics Training certificates with their HSSREC applications. Certificates for TRREE Module 1 (Introduction) and Module 3 (Informed Consent) are required, available at https://elearning.trree.org/. Modules 2 and 4 are optional, unless they are relevant to your study design, sample, or for educational purposes. Note that Research Ethics Training certificates expire after three years, unless otherwise specified by the certificate issuer.

 

  • Ethical AI in Research: Principles, Practices, and Policies, 7 Nov 2024 (Dr Damilola Adegoke)

 https://ukzn.zoom.us/rec/share/9goi1X36jRBM1s_TekpnrCjcK5l0gGxiPlyaQb2pmtELm-fSIDxelw7F0-l5WGZ6.5AUqrGvEnjptGFmM?startTime=1730984429000

Contact Us

For General HSSREC Queries:

Phone: (031) 260 3587

Email: HSSREC@ukzn.ac.za