IOE maintains its own Research Ethics Committee. All research projects by staff, students or visitors which collect or use data from human participants including secondary data analysis, systematic reviews and pilot studies, are required to gain ethical approval before data collection begins regardless of whether your research is funded or self-funded.

IOE adheres to the UCL Code of Conduct for Research and Statement on Research Integrity, which you can find on the UCL Research Integrity pages.

• IOE Research Ethics Guidelines
• Your ethics application - things you need to know

Applying for ethics review approval at IOE

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

The GDPR affirms data protection's fundamental right and should be applied in a legitimate, effective, and consistent manner. While the GDPR does not sufficiently specify ethical standards, it is important that researchers understand what this means for the personal data that’s processed during your research projects.
 
The Data Protection Office (DPO) have issued guidance specifically aimed at researchers, managing individual research projects. The guidance can be found via their website here.
 
The DPO has also produced an extensive Frequently Asked Questions page for answers to the most common data protection queries.
 
For further details, including guidance for research with children on data protection issues, and examples of consent forms and information sheets with privacy notice links, please visit your relevant section (staff or students).
 
Further information and up to date guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office is available here.

Please note, for ethics applications sent to the IOE REC for review, the IOE REC office will register the research with the Data protection office (DPO) and provide the researcher with a UCL data protection number. The DPO will then advise on any next steps if required.

IOE Research Ethics Committee Membership

• Chair of the IOE Research Ethics Committee / IOE Head of Research Ethics and Governance - Dr Nicole Brown
• Culture, Communication and Media – Dr Zsofia Demjen
• Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment – Dr Jennie Golding
• Department of Learning and Leadership – Dr Rob Higham
• Social Research Institute – Dr Karen Schucan Bird
• Psychology and Human Development – Dr Leda Kamenopoulou
• Education, Practice and Society – Dr Sara Bragg
• Centre for Doctoral Education – Dr Tom Woodin
• Student member - Christie Haddad
• Student member – Anupriya Sharma
• Student member - Stephanie Hoi-Ying Chan
• Lay member - Sara Hunt
• Lay member - Vimal Shah
• Lay member - Beth Chalcraft

Useful links

Research with vulnerable participants

• The experience of taking part in a national survey: A child's perspective (PDF)
• Research With Children And Young People
• The Ethics of Research with Children and Young People: A Practical Handbook
• Prisoners Education Trust: Policy on protection of vulnerable adults (POVA) and children (PDF)

Good practice guides

• Social Research Association good practice guides including Code of Practice for the Safety of Social Researchers
• Fieldwork during the pandemic (by Deborah Lupton, University of New South Wales, Australia)
• Running a Web Survey (PDF)
• Conducting Research Online (PDF)
• Recording & Obtaining Consent (PDF)
• Preparing Information Sheets
• BPS's Ethics Guidelines for Internet-Mediated Research
• AoIR's guidance on ethical issues in internet research

Ethical frameworks

• Data Science Ethical Framework (PDF)
• ESRC's Ethics Case Studies
• BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct 2018
• BERA Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research 2018 (PDF)
• BSA Statement of Ethical Practice 2017 (PDF)
• UCL Library records retention schedule (PDF)