Research Ethics & Safety

Human research ethics

As we announced in November 2021, we currently have an arrangement with the University of Alberta to have their Research Ethics Boards (REBs) review all ULethbridge research involving human participants. We are currently using the University of Alberta’s online ethics system, which is called ARISE.

We will be asking for your feedback to finetune our arrangements with UAlberta, and of course you are always welcome to provide suggestions to research.ethics@uleth.ca. No matter what form is taken for our future arrangements for REB review, the move to have our ethics applications maintained on the ARISE platform will be permanent, so the information below will assist with both your immediate needs and any future human participant research that you are planning.

New applications

Effective February 8, 2022, all ethics applications must be submitted through ARISE. See Getting Started - University of Lethbridge applicants for a step by step guide to creating a new ethics application in the ARISE system.

Please click the button below to access the ARISE login page:

ARISE Login

There are resources to help you start working in ARISE:

If you have any questions about ARISE or the UA REBs, contact reoffice@ualberta.ca. This is the general help inbox for the UA Research Ethics Office and your inquiry will be answered or redirected as needed. Once your application is in the system, a REB Specialist will be assigned to your study and will be able to answer specific questions about ethics application via email within ARISE. Finally, Ms K Kordov, the Associate Director of REO, has offered to do some online ARISE training sessions if there is interest in such training.

For general information about this transition, you can contact the University of Lethbridge Office of Research Innovation Services, Haley Dennis at research.ethics@uleth.ca.

Use the Getting Started - University of Lethbridge applicants guide

1) Obtain a UA CCID

(note: it may take 24-48 hours to receive your CCID and for it to be recognized within the ARISE system)

2) Once your CCID is activated, log into the ARISE system and click New Human Study - to create a new ethics application.

*NOTE: The ARISE system sends system-generated notifications to inform applicants when an application moves through the review process (ie. when it is sent back to you for changes, when it is approved, when a renewal is due, etc). The notifications will go to the @ualberta.ca email address associated with your UofA CCID but you can (and should) redirect them to your preferred email address. To change your preferred email address:

  1. Log into ARISE.
  2. Click on your name (top right corner of the screen).
  3. Click on My Profile.
  4. Click on Edit My Info (on the left side of the screen).
  5. Enter your preferred email address in the Email field.
  6. Click OK to submit the change and exit the form.

ANNUAL RENEWAL

AMENDMENT

3) In Section 1.1 (1.0) of the application form type U of L RENEWAL, Your U of L Ethics ID, “Your study title”. This will clearly identify the application as an annual renewal of an existing HPRC approved application.

3) In Section 1.1 (1.0) of the application form type U of L AMENDMENT, Your U of L Ethics ID, “Your study title”. This will clearly identify the application as an amendment request for an existing HPRC approved application.

4) Download and complete the fillable word document UA Annual Renewal application form to describe your activity over the past year. Upload it to the documentation section of the ethics application.

4) Download and complete the fillable word document U of L Amendment application form to describe your proposed amendment. Upload it to the documentation section of the ethics application.

5) Using the U of L to U of A application mapping guidance, copy and paste the responses from your approved U of L application into the applicable sections of the ARISE application. Do not propose ANY CHANGES to your existing approved application when completing a renewal application. Upload your current approved ethics application (and any attachments) and UL approval certificate.

5) Using the U of L to U of A application mapping guidance, copy and paste the responses from your approved U of L application into the applicable sections of the ARISE application. Where you propose changes, make sure you populate the ARISE application form with these changes being reflected.

6) Note in the ARISE application any question which has a red colored asterisk in front of it is a MANDATORY question. If a mandatory question is not applicable to your study, enter “N/A”.

7) Once the application has been completed, click SUBMIT for REVIEW.

Additional notes:

1) For Faculty who will be submitting their own ethics applications AND supervising students who will be submitting applications, don't forget to request BOTH an REB - Human Research Principal/Co-Investigator role AND a REB Faculty - Supervisor role in ARISE.

2) If you are migrating your approved study into ARISE because you need to amend the approved study AND your expiration date is occurring within the next 60-90 days, you can upload BOTH an amendment and renewal request when you first enter your application into the ARISE system.