Research Ethics as part of research culture in Faculty AHC

Too often research ethics are experienced as a barrier to jump, a hurdle to clear, a box to tick. We think we’ve all felt this at different times. This feeling has certainly been expressed in recent workshops the Arts, Humanities and Cultures Faculty Research Ethics Committee has held to shape guidance on practice-led, participatory and autoethnographic work.

In the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, we’re trying to shift this perception. We’d like researchers to see the research ethics process as enabling the expression of their ethical practice through a contextualisation of choices and approaches in current debates in their discipline or method.

Far from a bureaucratic process, this approach resituates research ethics as a core research practice. Engaging in this type active reflection for the ethical review process not only makes for a stronger application but also creates a bedrock of ethical thinking and writing that can be used elsewhere in funding applications and publications.

You need to make an ethics application anytime your research involves human participants

This approach to research ethics chimes with the University’s Research Culture work in terms of ‘responsible research and impact’ as well as wider aims around ‘equality, diversity and inclusion in research’.

To get a flavour of what this means for approaching your research ethics applications, you can explore recent guidance developed by the Faculty Research Ethics Committee on ‘Practice-led, action-led and Participatory research’ and ‘Autoethnographic research’

Each school  has a Research Ethics Lead who can talk through any issues and support your application. You can find out who your Ethics Lead is by looking at the AHC FREC webpage. Queries can also be sent to the AHC FREC mailbox: AHCResearchEthics@leeds.ac.uk

We also welcome discussions as a committee about approaches to research that may be better served by the processes leading to ethical review. In this spirit, we have renewed guidelines on autoethnographic work, participatory work, and pedagogic research.