Expedited review
Expedited review is intended for studies that:
- Have already been approved by a Research Ethics Board of a Canadian university, Canadian hospital, and hospitals affiliated with the University of Ottawa, where such REB is compliant with the TCPS and any applicable legislation;
- Are minor revisions of a previously approved project;
- Involve secondary use of research data (as stated in Article 3.2 of the TCPS “secondary use of research” is understood to be “the use in research of data contained in records collected for a purpose other than the research itself”) which cannot be linked to individuals; (Note: no review is required for use of previously collected, publicly available, anonymized research data);
- Do not involve biomedical procedures
The REB Chair, with the assistance of the Protocol Officer for Ethics, will determine whether an Ethics submission is eligible for expedited review.
Ethics submissions which may be eligible for expedited review will be reviewed by the REB Chair and the Protocol Officer for Ethics to determine if the submission meets the University of Ottawa’s and other relevant ethical standards. Upon such positive determination, the REB Chair may, at his or her sole discretion, grant approval. Alternatively, the REB Chair, at his or her sole discretion, may either i) refer the Ethics submission to full REB review or, ii) if he or she deems that the study is of minimal risk, may refer the Ethics submission to the Minimal Risk Review process described above.
In keeping with the Article 1.6 of the TCPS, the REB Chair, with the assistance of the Protocol Officer for Ethics, shall inform the REB of all decisions made through an expedited review process at the next REB meeting. Such approvals will also appear in the minutes of the meeting.
Timeline
This time required to conduct the expedited review process will vary because it is dependent upon the workload and availability of the persons participating in this process, namely the REB Chair and the Protocol Officer for Ethics. Typically, however, an expedited review should take approximately 2 weeks.
When requesting expedited review, researchers can submit applications at any time using the standard Ethics form. An original plus one copy should be provided.
Researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the Protocol Officer for Ethics prior to submission for advice on whether their Ethics submission may be eligible for Expedited Review.
Researchers should recognize that a decision to refer an Ethics submission to full REB review or to Minimal Risk Review may occasion delays due to the monthly scheduling of REB meetings or the availability of REB members participating in the Minimal Risk Review process and may necessitate that the researcher provide additional copies of the Ethics submission.