Research Ethics

Any research undertaken by Institute of Archaeology staff or students should be designed and conducted in an ethical way and be compliant with existing Institute and UCL policy as well as UK law and international law, where relevant. Issues to consider include how your research data is funded, sourced, analysed and disseminated.

Institute policies and guidelines

The Institute of Archaeology takes research ethics very seriously and has produced the following guidelines for Institute staff and students to adhere to:

• Policy regarding the illicit trade in antiquities
• Ethical guidelines for research
• Ethical guidelines for human participant research

Any enquiries may be directed to the Chair of the Institute's Ethics Committee (currently Rachael Sparks) at IoA.ethics@ucl.ac.uk

UCL policies and guidelines

• UCL Cultural Property Policy
  This states that anyone bringing cultural property onto UCL premises must register this material with college. This includes all incoming archaeological material. The Institute offers support for this; click here for further details.
• UCL Cultural Property Policy Guide
• UCL Statement of Research Integrity

The legal position

• If your research involves human participants you must obtain clearance from the UCL Research Ethics Committee or National Research Ethics Service in order to be covered by UCL public liability insurance, unless your research has been declared exempt from such approval by a member of the UCL Research Ethics Committee or the Institute of Archaeology’s Ethics Committee. Students should first read the Ethical guidelines for human participant research section of this website.
• Your research must be compliant with Data Protection Legislation (General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018).
• Work involving human remains must be compliant with the Human Tissue Act 2004
• A Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) will be needed if you work in controlled or regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults. See here for further information»
• Appropriate Risk Assessment Forms may need to be submitted. These should be submitted to Sandra Bond.
• If you conduct your research outside Britain, or your work involves international collaborators, then you must also follow any relevant international guidelines or laws for the countries in which you operate.

Ethical training

• Ethics 1: good research practice, an online course offered through Moodle»
• Ethics 2: working with human subjects, an online course offered through Moodle»
• UCL Research Ethics Committee applications for working with human subjects, a 2 hour workshop aimed at research students» 

Anyone who wishes further advice on ethical matters should contact the Chair of the Institute's Ethics Committee (currently Rachael Sparks) at IoA.ethics@ucl.ac.uk