What's New

What's New

  • New FAQ - 'How do I ensure that my research conforms to UM Research Ethics & Data Protection Procedures?' has replaced a previous FAQ on 'Can you give me some examples of research activities that require review?'  - February 2024
  • Most recent version (2024) of the ASAB Ethical Committee/ABS Animal Care Committee 'Guidelines for the ethical treatment of nonhuman animals in behavioural research and teaching' has been added to the 'Resources - Other documents' webpage - February 2024
  • New FAQ - 'What if my research involves the transfer or sharing of personal data with researchers outside of the EU?' - December 2023
  • A link to the DSM-5 Classification has also been included here. - November 2023
  • New FAQs have been added - 'What is defined as a mental health disorder?' & 'What if I plan to harvest social media data?' - November 2023
  • 'The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity', this document has recently been updated with the 2023 edition and can be found here. - October 2023
  • NEW UREC Poster had been added to the Resources section under: UM documents - August 2023
  • Guidance note - 'Research on refugees, asylum seekers & migrants' have been added to the UREC website - March 2023
  • JFARSS webpage has been added to UREC website - March 2023
  • New FAQ - 'At which point of the research should a REDP form be submitted?' - March 2023
  • Guidelines for research involving persons with mental disorders have been added to UREC website - March 2023

Shortly after Senate issued the Research Code of Practice   and the Research Ethics Review Procedures   in September 2017, the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) launched an online self-assessment form for the use of researchers, using off-the-shelf software. UREC is now replacing this by software written specifically for the UM research ethics review process: URECA.

While the content of the online form has not changed, URECA automates the submission process, eliminating the need for applicants to send emails with attachments. Its backend features facilitate record keeping, review and audit.

As with the previous form, the URECA form enables users to assess ethical and data protection aspects of their research through a series of structured questions, helping them to self-assess as to whether the form should be submitted to the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC)  for records or for review. If the researcher is a student, supervisor endorsement is still required but the URECA system streamlines this process by giving access to supervisors to assess and endorse the form.

URECA will become active on 1 October 2021. Further information may be obtained from the UREC website or from the FREC.


https://www.um.edu.mt/research/ethics/whatsnew/