Negros Oriental State University
Research Ethics Committee
Research Ethics, Review & Oversight
Guidance for researchers and participants on informed consent, voluntary participation, privacy, confidentiality, safety, withdrawal, vulnerable participants, and channels for questions or ethics-related concerns.
The NORSU Research Ethics Manual places protection of the rights, dignity, safety, welfare, and well-being of research participants at the center of ethical research. Researchers are responsible for ensuring that participation is voluntary and appropriately informed and that risks, privacy, confidentiality, and participant welfare are addressed throughout the study.
Among its functions, the REC establishes mechanisms to protect participant rights and safety, support informed consent and confidentiality, provide counsel, and monitor approved research until completion.
People invited to participate in research should be able to make an informed and voluntary decision about whether to take part.
Participation must be voluntary. Individuals should be free to decide whether they want to participate.
Participants should receive relevant information about the study, procedures, duration, risks, benefits, privacy protections, funding or affiliation, and applicable contacts.
Participants should have a full opportunity to ask questions, and researchers should respond honestly, promptly, and completely.
An individual may refuse to participate without penalty or loss of benefits to which they are otherwise entitled.
A participant may withdraw from the research at any time without having to provide a reason and without penalty or loss of entitled benefits.
Researchers must respect participant privacy and safeguard confidential information, subject to applicable legal and ethical limits that should be explained when relevant.
Informed consent is a process of giving prospective participants the information and opportunity needed to make a voluntary decision about research participation.
Consent FormsInformed consent is generally documented through the participant's signature or thumbmark. Alternative approaches or waivers require appropriate REC approval under applicable conditions.
Consent may need to be renewed when circumstances or procedures significantly change, when new information may affect willingness to participate, or at intervals in long-term studies.
Signing a consent form does not remove the participant's right to withdraw. The supplied NORSU informed-consent form expressly allows withdrawal after signing.
The Research Ethics Manual requires researchers to respect privacy and observe confidentiality unless disclosure is required by law. Records linking individuals to specific information should not be released, and researchers should describe a data-protection plan in the protocol.
Limits of confidentiality: When legal or ethical obligations may require disclosure—for example, in specified situations involving imminent harm—the limits of confidentiality should be explained during the informed-consent process.
A research protocol should explain how data and participant identities will be safeguarded, including protections followed by people who may have access to research data, such as research assistants, transcribers, or translators.
Participant protection should be proportionate to the risks of the research and the circumstances of the people invited to participate.
The Manual states that research should be conducted only when there is an acceptable positive benefit-risk ratio.
Research involving vulnerable participants requires special protection. Recruitment and consent procedures should avoid coercion, undue influence, or inappropriate pressure.
Research procedures should avoid unnecessary physical or mental pain and include appropriate safeguards against research-related injury or harm.
The supplied REC documents include separate informed-consent templates for student and faculty research.
Participant-facing informed-consent template for student research.
Download Student ICFParticipant-facing informed-consent template for faculty research.
Download Faculty ICFThe REC Complaint / Concern Form includes concerns involving participant rights or welfare, informed consent, privacy or confidentiality, protocol compliance, researcher or REC processes, conflicts of interest, possible ethical violations, and other concerns.
Review the ethical guidelines and REC clearance process before beginning participant recruitment or data collection.