Thank you for considering Ethiclear as an ethical review board for your upcoming research study. Please read the following information carefully before starting.

About the Committee

The Ethiclear committee can provide an ethical opinion (favourable or otherwise) on your research project. However, the committee cannot do so for projects that are deemed to be CTIMP (Clinical Trials of Investigational Medicinal Product), and such UK-based research projects require NHS Research Ethics Committee (REC) review.

If you are outside of the UK, your country may have its own laws or regulations with regard to research study ethics, and you should determine whether Ethiclear is appropriate to your requirements and any relevant regulation.

It is yours (or your sponsor's) sole responsibility to determine whether your research requires a specific type of review. If you're based in the UK, before starting this process, we recommend visiting the HRA website and using their decision tool to determine if NHS REC review is required. This can be found by clicking this link.

The Ethiclear Process

Once you have submitted your project information to Ethiclear, we will reach out to arrange payment of a £100.00 fee to enable us to conduct an initial quality review of your submission. If your project does not constitute research, or we decide that it requires NHS REC review (or other regulated review), we will not be able to continue with it, and you will be provided information on how to continue.

If the Ethiclear committee can review your project, we will arrange the full fee (£1,000.00) to be paid, and the committee will review, convene, and discuss your project in order to determine an opinion. The opinion will be communicated to you.

If a non-favourable opinion is provided, the committee may make some recommendations or comments that enable you to make small changes to your proposal, which can be re-reviewed by our Chair and quality experts free of charge for one round.

If major changes are required to provide a favourable opinion, then you must make any changes needed to your project and re-submit your proposal using this form.

Please note that all prices are exclusive of VAT.

Our current committee details are published on our website for your review.

Before Starting...

This application process will ask for a range of information about your study. Please ensure you have all relevant information about your proposed project to-hand, including information about your participants, consent proceedings, and protocol.

You'll also be asked to upload your protocol/overview, a Participant Information Sheet, and your consent form.

You need to answer all questions in one go

Your Data

Ethiclear is a service provided by Seastorm Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 11867862.

Your data and research information is treated with the utmost confidence and will not be provided or made available to any third parties without your explicit consent (unless we have a legal obligation to do so). We do not report your project or information, or our opinion of it, to any third party, unless we have a legal obligation to do so.

Once a final opinion has been provided to you, all committee members remove copies of your proposal and any related information. Ethiclear administration may securely maintain a record of it, but you can request that this is removed at any time.

Our Privacy Policy is available at this link

Our Ethics Policy is available at this link