The Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, has developed procedures to ensure a sound ethical scrutiny of research activities carried out by its researchers, including academic staff, postdoctoral fellows, postgraduate and undergraduate students and researchers affiliated to local institutes. Members of the academic community of the University are expected to have an awareness and an appreciation of the relevance of ethical considerations in their research. The RECSSH will provide written information about its procedures and terms of reference for all researchers and will carry out its work in accordance with these guidelines. The operational procedures for granting ethics approval are as follows:
  1. Research protocols relevant to research in Social Sciences and Humanities involving human participants, social events and social phenomena will be submitted to the ERCSSH through the Secretary of the Committee.
  2. The RECSSH will specify the format in which an application should be submitted.
  3. The
    RECSSH
    will consider the application in accordance with the procedures set out in this document and its appendices.
  4. Research protocols (including resubmissions of revised protocols) should be received by the RECSSH no later than 14 days prior to a meeting of the RECSSH in order to be included in the agenda for discussion/consideration. RECSSH meetings are conducted once a month (usually on the 3rd Wednesday of the month). Researchers should clearly indicate which data requires review for ethics approval. The ERCSSH usually takes 4 – 6 weeks to convey decisions to participants after an application is tabled at a meeting, provided that the application is complete, and has been received within two weeks timeframe.
  5. The Committee will inform the applicant of the decision and any amendments that need to be made or reasons for not approving the research proposal. A need for amendments may extend the time for approval. If an application requiring revision is not received within 03 months of the RECSSH’s decision, a new application will have to be submitted, with payment.
  6. Full records of the decisions of the RECSSH will be minuted, and the records will be kept by the Secretary.
  7. The RECSSH has specific procedures for undergraduate /postgraduate students of the Faculty of Arts as follows: Undergraduate/post graduate students who seek ethical clearance/ approval from the RECSSH should submit their research proposals with the endorsement of their supervisor/s. E-mail submissions should be copied to supervisors. Revisions to proposals should be approved by the supervisor/s prior to resubmission to the RECSSH for consideration.
It is the responsibility of the supervisor/s to ensure that his/her/their student/ supervisee follows the principles of ethics in preparing their research proposal.
  1. Applicants for ethics approval should not begin their data collection until approval from the RECSSH has been received.
  2. Applicants should disclose the sources of funding (if any) for their research in the application, as well as any monetary or other rewards which will be given to informants.
16/08/2023 (further revised 25/09/2023)