Ethics Review System

The Ethics Review System manages the complete ethics review process including application, review, and approval. It facilitates effective management by encouraging and enforcing a robust process, and automation of certain tasks results in improved turnaround times.

The system has been developed with the University of Sheffield's Research, Partnerships and Innovation department, who oversee research ethics for all staff and students. Since launching at Sheffield in 2014 it has been used to efficiently process over 40,000 applications.
 
 
Ethics Review System - Personalised Dashboards

Personalised dashboards indicate required actions.

Ethics Review System - Supporting Documentation

Supporting documentation can be easily uploaded.

Ethics Review System - Notifications

Notifications guide users through the process.

Ethics Review System - Amendment Highlighting

Amendments and additions are clearly highlighted.

Key Features

Clarity

  • Reviewers and administrators have a personalised dashboard showing precisely what actions they need to take for any given application.
  • Reviewers can record comments alongside a specific question, providing applicants with clear feedback about required changes.
  • Reviewers can record comments alongside a specific question, providing applicants with clear feedback about required changes.

Efficiency

  • Applications can be completed by a group of authors, with all co-applicants able to have edit privileges.
  • Statistics such as current review workload and average turnaround time help administrators to assign the most suitable reviewers.
  • The notifications feature, with optional email alerts, promptly informs users when they have actions to carry out.

Flexibility

  • The process each application follows is determined automatically based on the risk assigned to it, with the option to use separate routes for staff and students.
  • The questions on the application form can be customised to fit your institution’s review process.
  • The system is web-based, allowing users to have access wherever they are and using both desktop and mobile devices.
  • The appearance of the system can be customised to share the branding of your institution.

Security

  • The system is hosted on a secure cloud platform which is compliant with data protection legislation and uses servers located in the UK.
  • We can integrate with your institution's IT services so that users are able to log in with familiar details.
  • We frequently update the system to ensure the safety of your data, which is stored securely and accessed using encrypted channels.

Working with the epiGenesys team on Southampton Solent's new ethics review app has been excellent. They are attentive and were happy to adapt their original system to fit with our needs and review structure. The team have made everything so smooth and have even made some extra amendments post launch. The app has completely streamlined our ethics review process, and I can't thank them enough!

- Ethics and Impact Officer

Related Work

If you would like to ask a question about our Ethics Review System or request a demo, please contact us and a member of our team will be happy to help.