1. Research Ethics At Queen's University
  2. Guidelines / Templates
  3. Applicant Checklist

Applicant Checklist

This checklist is designed to assist applicants in preparing and submitting applications to the Research Ethics Boards (REBs) of Queen’s University. By following this checklist, applicants can ensure their submissions are thorough, comprehensive, and compliant with ethical standards. 

Resources, templates, guidelines and the REB Guidebook can be found on the Research Ethics website by visiting queensu.ca/vpr/ethics  

Note: This checklist can be used for GREB and HSREB submissions.

To determine the correct board of submission, refer to the submission criteria below:  

If your study includes one or more of the following elements, you must obtain a review from the HSREB:
☐ Participants from any of the Affiliated Teaching Hospitals or in other health care clinics or medical settings at any point during the research.
☐

Conducting research or recruiting participants from any of the following affiliated teaching hospitals:

  • Kingston Health Sciences Centre: Kingston General Health Research Institute (KGHRI), Hotel Dieu Hospital Research Institute (HDHRI), 
  • Providence Care Hospital (PCH) 
  • Ongwanada
  • Any other healthcare, clinic, or medical settings.
☐ Pharmaceutical device, drug, or natural product(s) clinical trials.
☐ Medical or physical interventions, treatments, therapies, or surgeries.
☐ New medical techniques or technologies, deviations from standard of care.
☐ Using human biological material from living or deceased participants; physical exertion (beyond walking/normal daily activities).
☐ Medical or dental patients, doctors, nurses, dentists, or any other health care professionals, and rehabilitation therapy.
☐ Accessing health or medical records.
☐ Using X-rays, CT scan, PET Scan, MRIs, ultrasounds, EKG or other medical tests or scans.
☐ Administering or ingesting any substance.
☐ Biobanks and large databases.

If none from the list above are applicable to your study, you must obtain a review from the GREB. 

RESEARCH PROJECT DESCRIPTION

 

 Completed Comments

Is the Principal Investigator (PI) a student or medical resident? If yes, ensure the supervisor is added in the Project Team Info tab of the TRAQ application.  

Ensure the supervisor’s letter has been uploaded and​​ contains the following: 

  • Title of the study 
  • Date of the letter/email  
  • Supervisor signature (written or electronic) 
 ​ċ☐​  
Have all research team members that require access to TRAQ been added to the Project Team Info tab? Note: team members that do not require access to TRAQ do not need to be listed.   ​ċ☐  
Project Documents:
Have you added all necessary project documents in the attachments tab? (This includes Letter of Information and consent form (LOI/CF), recruitment material, linking log templates, data collection forms, and any other participant-facing materials.) Please refer to the ethics website for guidance, materials and templates. queensu.ca/vpr/ethics   ​ċ☐  
Study Protocol/ Proposal (if applicable): 
  • Develop a detailed study protocol outlining the research objectives, methodology, participant recruitment procedures, data collection and storage methods, and analysis plan. 
  • Ensure that the protocol addresses ethical considerations specific to the research domain (e.g., clinical, health-related, social sciences). 
 ​ċ☐  

Informed Consent Materials:

Use the appropriate Queen’s Consent Template to ensure the required language is in the consent form.  

  • Draft informed consent forms that provide clear and comprehensive information about the study purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, confidentiality measures, and participant rights. 
  • Ensure the ethical approval statement has been included.  
  • Ensure that consent forms are written in the language appropriate for the target population and comply with regulatory requirements. 
  • Develop additional consent materials for special populations, if applicable (e.g., minors, non-English speakers, individuals with disabilities). 
  • Ensure the consent form is written in simple language at a level of the intended audience. Refer to Microsoft’s instructions for assessing reading level to determine if a document is at a grade 8 or lower reading level.
 ☐  
Other institutional REB Approval letters, if applicable (i.e. an approval from another Canadian REB for a multi-centered study) ☐  
Recruitment materials (e.g., scripts, posters, online posts, social media / online correspondence, etc.) ☐  
Data collection materials, including data linking log templates and contact collection sheets  ☐  
Any other participant facing materials (i.e. Thank you letters, debriefing letters or other communications)  ☐  
Investigator’s Brochure or Product Monograph, if applicable  ☐  
NOTE: All participant facing documents must have the ethical approval statement (“This study has received ethical approval by the Queen’s University Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board” or “This study has received ethical approval by the Queen’s University General Research Ethics Board)”  ☐  
NOTE: All documents are uploaded as a stand-alone documents and not as one single collated document. One document in a separate Attachment tab from the others.  ☐  

All of documents in the Attachments tabs in an appropriate file format (.pdf, .doc/.docx).

Note: consent forms must be submitted in word (.docx) format.

 ☐  
Version dates and page numbers on all documents  ☐  

By completing the checklist, applicants can ensure that their submissions to the REB are well-prepared, thorough, and compliant with ethical standards, facilitating the review process.