How to get ethical approval

What ethics committees actually look for, the documents you need, and the mistakes that cause applications to be returned.

8 min read · Reviewed 2026

Only your institution can grant ethical approval, and its own forms, deadlines and requirements always take precedence over any general guidance. This article helps you prepare a stronger application, not bypass one.

Most rejections are administrative rather than ethical: missing documents, vague procedures, or a data plan that does not match the consent form.

What committees are checking

Applications are assessed against a fairly predictable set of concerns.

  • Informed consent: do participants understand what they are agreeing to?
  • Right to withdraw: by when, and what happens to their data?
  • Confidentiality and anonymisation: how, and at what point?
  • Data security: where stored, who has access, how long, how destroyed?
  • Risk of harm: including distress, and what you will do if it arises.
  • Vulnerability: additional safeguards for anyone who needs them.

Documents to prepare

Typically a participant information sheet in plain language, a consent form, your instruments (interview schedule, questionnaire or observation protocol), recruitment materials, and a data management plan. Consistency between them matters: if the consent form promises deletion after twelve months, your data plan must say the same.

Build in the time

Review rounds take weeks and amendments take more. Collecting any data before approval is a serious academic offence, so plan the timeline backwards from your submission date.

Common mistakes

  • Starting data collection before written approval.
  • Information sheets written in academic register participants cannot follow.
  • Promising anonymity that a small, identifiable sample makes impossible.
  • Contradictions between the consent form and the data management plan.

Try this: The consistency check

  1. Put your information sheet, consent form and data plan side by side.
  2. Highlight every promise made to participants.
  3. Confirm each promise appears identically in all three documents.
  4. Rewrite anything a non-academic reader would not understand.

Do it in SuperDiss

Work through the standard requirements and get your documents consistent.

Open the Ethics workspace

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This guide is general educational content. Your institution's regulations, handbook and supervisor's instructions always take precedence. Where a named framework is mentioned, consult the original source text rather than relying on this summary.