Responsibilities of the Ethics Review Committee
1. The Department shall review all student research involving human subjects when:
- They are construed as "research";
- The research is eligible for exemption from NUS-IRB review;
- The research does not involve deception or vulnerable populations;
- The research is not part of a faculty member's research project already subject to review by NUS-IRB.
2. Student research supervised by individuals outside the faculty (including persons not affiliated to the University) shall also be reviewed by the Department, unless they are subject to review by the NUS-IRB or by another IRB in compliance with the existing guidelines.
3. All research not eligible for exemption will have to be reviewed by the NUS-IRB.
4. Research conducted by students and faculty members that are not part of an undergraduate or a graduate course of study must be reviewed by NUS-IRB.
5. The supervisor of a student research, which forms part of the supervisor's own NUS-IRB-approved research, must inform the NUS-IRB on the addition of a secondary title to the existing approved title and submit a Protocol Amendment to the NUS-IRB to include the student's research as a secondary research.
6. For applications to the NUS-IRB, undergraduates will have to do so with their supervisors as the main applicants. Graduate students may apply with their supervisors acting as the "Principal Investigator" or "Supervising Co-investigator".
The DERC will meet four times a semester/eight times a year according to the following schedule:
| Meeting Date | Deadline for Submitting Applications |
| Semester 1 | |
| 4th week of August | 3rd Friday of August |
| 3rd week of September | 2nd Monday of September |
| 3rd week of October | 2nd Monday of October |
| 3rd week of November | 2nd Monday of November |
| Semester 2 | |
| 4th week of January | 3rd Friday of January |
| 3rd week of February | 2nd Monday of February |
| 3rd week of March | 2nd Monday of March |
| 3rd week of April | 2nd Monday of April |
1. How to Choose: DERC vs. NUS-IRB Application Process?
| Undergraduate Student Project | ||
| Do you intend to publish? | Are study participants vulnerable? | |
| Yes | No | |
| Yes (ISM & Honours Thesis) | DERC | DERC (Once DERC approves your study, NUS-IRB will provide retrospective approval when you submit your manuscript for journal publication) |
| No (ISM) | Supervisor | Supervisor |
| No (Honours Thesis) | DERC | DERC |
| Graduate Student Project |
||
| Do you intend to publish? | Are study participants vulnerable? | |
| Yes | No | |
| Yes | NUS-IRB | NUS-IRB |
| No | DERC (NUS-IRB will not provide any retrospective approval ) | DERC (NUS-IRB will not provide any retrospective approval ) |
2. Application Forms
a) Social Work's Departmental Ethics Review Committee (DERC) application form: Please update the version numbers and dates.
b) A copy of the participant/patient information sheet (PIS) and consent form (CF) must be attached to the DERC Application Form. Please also update the version numbers and dates on all supporting documents, except the agency approval letter (e.g. Interview guide/Questionnaires, Letter of Invitation to Subjects, Subject Payment Details, etc).
3. Students should submit a soft copy of the application and all the relevant supporting documents after consultation with their supervisors to the Administrative Staff-in-Charge (via email) in the General Office according to the deadlines given in the schedule. Each application should be submitted in a single PDF file and cc supervisor.
4. The Administrative Staff-in-Charge will check if the application is complete and if it is not complete, it will be returned to the supervisor/student for adding the missing information.
5. After indexing the complete application, the Administrative Staff-in-Charge will forward the application to a Principal Reviewer from the DERC Department members in rotation.
6. At the DERC meetings, the Principal Reviewer will present the application and the DERC will decide on the outcome.
7. If the DERC approves exemption, the student and the supervisor will be informed by the Administrative Staff-in-Charge by email.
8. If amendments are required to the application, student/supervisor will be given 2 weeks to follow-up and submit the necessary required documents to the DERC for review before final approval is granted to them. All revisions should be bolded and highlighted.
9. The validity of the exemption is for a year, and the student needs to reapply beyond the validity period or if the student makes changes in the research.
10. If the DERC considers the application appropriate for NUS-IRB Review, it will be returned to the supervisor for forwarding to the NUS-IRB. The Supervisor should then apply for the NUS-IRB review as the Principal Investigator.
11. To request approval for changes to an approved research, please submit the Protocol Amendment Form and its supporting documents in a single PDF file (all revisions should be bolded and highlighted with new version numbers & dates indicated) to DERC (Attn: Ms Tan Shi Hui, email: swktans@nus.edu.sg) for review.
Useful Guides
Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW) Code of Professional Ethics
