Ethics System: Worktribe

Applications to the Worktribe Ethics process should only be submitted once the system has been adopted by the associated Ethics Board (see the roll-out schedule).

Once the system has gone live for your Ethics Board, then the earlier the better. You can save as you draft your application as there are a number of issues you will need to consider and respond to.  Don’t forget to allow time for reviews and approval as well.

No, not all projects will need ethical approval and there is a checklist for your discipline that will guide you through whether one is required.

No, as long as you have answered the first screen of questions and saved you can then return to your application in Worktribe at any time to make changes before you submit.

No. Once submitted, it becomes ‘View only’. Your Ethics Triage person can make minor changes on your behalf or can return to you if more extensive changes are required. There are other times the application can be amended by yourself before approval. For example, a reviewer requests a change or an ethics committee require a change.

Not normally, however we must be confident that the principal investigator's institution has comparable ethics approval processes. Please contact worktribeethics@abdn.ac.uk for further guidance.

Yes, it does assign a unique ID to each application, and we can search the system using this ID.

On the Scope tab, the question ‘Does the proposed research raise any ethical issues or risk of reputational damage that are not covered above?’ can be used to provide further details of any ethical issues raised by your project that aren’t addressed in any of the other questions.

This is a mandatory question and must be answered by all applicants.  For the purposes of our application process, please tick ‘yes’ to this question only if the application has undergone formal peer review by an external or internal panel.  For all other ethics applications, tick ‘no’ and enter ‘n/a’ in the text box.  We do not require the upload of any evidence around peer review.

The system prompts for a level of detail that is not always required.  When answering this question, please bear in mind the implications of choosing the location of the research, for example, whether the location is on public or private premises, and whether the location poses any particular risks to participants or researchers

The application needs to contain sufficient information for the reviewers to form a judgement on whether any risks to participants and researchers have been considered and addressed sufficiently.  For example, it may not be possible at the time of application to provide an exact location (i.e building, room number) for an interview or activity, but we would expect applicants to address travel to and from the anticipated venues, accessibility issues and personal safety. 

For interviews/activities that take place on campus, in most cases, no further details will be required.

For interviews/activities that take place in other public places, please state an address if that is possible or location (e.g. Union Square Aberdeen).

For interviews/activities that take place in private or residential settings, please provide a location (where possible) and consider any ethical issues that may arise from that.  Where the location(s) are not yet known, please describe the likely private locations collectively (e.g ‘premises of participating organisations’)

For field work, please provide a broad description of the area in which the research will take place – reviewers do not require details of exact sample sites, or the location of traps etc, but they will need to know where the site(s) are located, whether access or personal safety (due to, for example, remoteness or location in a particular area within a city) are an issue, and whether any special consideration may apply around access, for example, for sites that are protected as part of a National Park or that are culturally or spiritually sensitive

There is a separate question about permissions around locations which invites the upload of permissions or approvals where these are available.

Hazardous substances are any those substances posing a risk to human or environmental health.  This could be e.g. substances or mixtures with the potential to cause harm if they are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact, or are absorbed through the skin (as defined by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health), substances such as Persistent Organic Pollutants, radioactive substances, and similar. We advise to contact your respective lab technician/manager to help identify which substances classify as hazardous. 

Controlled substances are those whose possession and use are regulated by the government, e.g. drugs regulated under the misuse of drugs legislation. 

The Data Management Tab will need to be filled out by all projects that do not only work with secondary data that is curated specifically for general public access. However, it does not replace the Data Management Plan (DMP) that might be required by specific funders and projects. More information about DMP requirements can be found on the Data Management webpage.

It will depend upon the risk assigned to your application and each board has flexibility regarding number of reviews requested. On average a low risk application will require 2 reviews and a high risk up to 5 or  a full board review.

While we have changed the platform for submission and processing of applications, the policy and guidance put in place by the Ethics Boards will remain in place. Applications will be assigned for review to members of the Ethics Board associated with your School.  The reviewers will remain anonymous to the applicant.

You will receive an email notification as well as being able to see a notification in Worktribe. You can also use the menu in Worktribe to look at your applications and what stage they are at in the review process.

The application status 'Favourable Opinion' indicates that your application has been approved, whilst the application status 'Revision' will require you to revise and resubmit your application (and the comments provided will explain the required changes).

No. If for any reason you want to delete an application, please email worktribeethics@abdn.ac.uk with the details and reason.

If you are required to revise and resubmit your application, the system will log the time and date of your re-submission as version number 'X'. It does not save copies of any previous versions of your application. The system will only retain the most recent version of your application.

No. You are unable to copy/duplicate a previous or existing application due to the complexity of the question sets.

Worktribe is ISO 27001 certificated. This is an internationally recognised best practice framework for information security management systems (ISMS). Essentially, it means Worktribe is able to securely handle confidential information, with controls in place to identify and reduce any risks to this information.
Worktribe also complies with all GDPR requirements.
Login to Worktribe is strictly controlled by the University with all users having to authenticate via Shibboleth. Once signed in, further permissions within the system enable additional control of proposal elements.

Here is a flow diagram which outlines the ethical application process. As an alternative, we have a text document which outlines the same process. 

Please get in touch with us on worktribeethics@abdn.ac.uk for assistance.

If your ethics application arises out of your PhD studies, then please log in to Worktribe Ethics using your student account. PGR students often hold temporary services accounts that may expire before the end of their studies and may make it difficult to access any applications/approvals.

If the ethics application arises out of research undertaken as part of your employment contract, then your staff account should be used.

All ethics applications submitted by students in Worktribe will be submitted to the supervisor for initial review to ensure that the application has been appropriately completed before submission to the formal ethical review process.

The supervisor will be notified via an automated email message when an applicant creates an ethics application on the system, and will be able to access the draft application (and comment on it) during this initial stage.  The supervisor will also be notified via email once the application has been reviewed and either (1) returned to the student as either approved ('Favourable Opinion') or (2) if the application has been returned to the student for further revision and resubmission.

For now, the system is accessible only to those who have an @abdn.ac.uk e-mail address.   

Applications made and approved through a previous system don’t need to be recreated for new approval in Worktribe. Please check your Board guidance for further information if you wish to make an amendment to an ethics application that received approval prior to the introduction of the Worktribe Ethics application process.  

Yes, we can link multiple ethics applications to one project recorded in Worktribe i.e. the funded projects created under the ‘Projects’ module (Research Award Management System).  Where a linked ethics application exists, the project record in Worktribe displays an ‘Ethics’ tab which provides details of all linked ethics applications and their approval status.

Worktribe allows for the storage of documents related to the ethics application within the document tab.  However, Worktribe is not a repository for research related paperwork.  Copies of completed consent forms (and any other associated research documentation) should be stored alongside any other research data in the specific data storage for research projects made available by IT Services:  Data Storage & Archiving | StaffNet | The University of Aberdeen (abdn.ac.uk)