How to Obtain Committee Approval

Planning to publish your research results in an international journal?

Many international journals require authors to provide confirmation that their research procedures comply with ethical standards. You can obtain this official confirmation on a voluntary basis from the Committee for Ethical Assessment of Empirical Research Projects of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at HSE University.

The procedure for obtaining ethical approval includes the following stages:

1. The principal investigator submits the following documents to the Committee Secretary:

·      Completed application form (Application Form (DOCX, 20 Kb) )

·      Research protocol

·      Participant information sheet

·      Informed consent form

·      Questionnaires/surveys (if applicable)

·      Participant recruitment materials

·      Researchers' CVs

·      Other documents as requested by the committee

2. The application dossier must include a cover letter addressed to the Chair of the Committee. For international projects, submission of documents in both English and Russian is required; the applicant is responsible for the quality of translation.
3. A simplified review procedure is available in limited cases.
4. All details regarding document submission, registration, meeting procedures, initial review, publication approval, re-review, amendment review, interim reports, final reports, etc, are described in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (SOPs (PDF, 304 Kb)).
5. The committee reviews applications within 30 working days and makes one of the following decisions:

·      The research project fully complies with ethical standards and may be implemented as presented.

·      The research project generally complies with ethical standards and may be implemented after minor revisions.

·      The research project requires revisions based on the committee's comments and subsequent re-review.

·      The research project does not comply with ethical standards and cannot be approved.

3. If the project requires revisions, or if changes are made to the study design after receiving approval, re-review by the committeeis required.
4. The completed approval in Russian and English is signed by the Chair of the Committee and sent to the applicant within seven working days. Hard copies of documents can be obtained from the Committee Secretary or the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology manager.

For research involving biological samples, cell lines, and patient data, additional documents confirming compliance with specific ethical standards are required.