Submission Guidelines


Research involving human participants conducted by faculty members and graduate students under the auspices of the University of Toronto must be reviewed and approved by a University of Toronto Research Ethics Board (REB) prior to its commencement.

Faculty of Information Guidelines on Submission of Applications for Ethics Approval

Faculty, Status-Only Appointees, and Post-Doctoral Fellows

A completed application for Ethics Approval should be sent to the Faculty of Information’s Research Services team at ethics.ischool@utoronto.ca. The Research Administrator will return the application with feedback within FIFTEEN (15) working days.

Please submit the MRHP – Application Worksheet protocol, including appendices, as a single Microsoft Word document or PDF, with file name: last name_ethics_date.

After the application has received the approval of the ADR, the investigator will submit the online application via My Research Human Protocols (MRHP) to be reviewed by the REB.

Detailed information and instructions can be found here 

Graduate Students

Where the Ethics Approval is for research associated with a doctoral dissertation, the application should first be reviewed and approved by the supervisor. Note: Supervisors are also responsible for generating the invitation to allow their students to access MRHP. The instructions to do so can be found here.

After the supervisor is satisfied with the application, the application should be sent to the Faculty of Information’s Research Services team at ethics.ischool@utoronto.ca.

Please submit the student’s MRHP – Application Worksheet protocol, including appendices, as a single Microsoft Word or PDF document, with file name: last name_ethics_date.

The Research Administrator will follow up with the student directly within TEN (10) business days. The supervisor will be copied on all communication.

After the application has received Faculty approval, the student will submit the online application via My Research Human Protocols (MRHP) to be reviewed by the REB.

Courses, Including Independent Reading Courses

Ethics protocols for courses taught within the Faculty of Information should be submitted to the Faculty of Information’s Research Services team (ethics.ischool@utoronto.ca) for review and approval no less than TWENTY (20) working days before it needs to be submitted to the REB.

If you are unsure whether your course activities require an ethics application or not, please consult the University of Toronto’s guidelines for Activities Exempt from Human Ethics Review, and submit the Quality Control/Assurance and Research Checklist Form to ethics.review@utoronto.ca.

INDEPENDENT READING COURSES: Where the ethics approval is for research associated with an independent reading course, the student is considered the PI, not the course instructor. The ethics application process for Graduate Students (outlined above) should be followed.

Please submit the MRHP – Graduate Course Application Worksheet protocol Word document, with file name: your last name_ethics_date. Make sure that the protocol and additional material (research instruments, consent forms, etc.) are submitted as one compiled document. After the application has received Faculty approval, the course instructor will submit the online application via My Research Human Protocols (MRHP) to be reviewed by the REB.

Detailed information and instructions can be found here