Research with Human Participants during COVID-19

Resumption of Research at MSVU during COVID-19

Updated September 6, 2022

Researchers are reminded that they and their research team must abide by all Public Health directives and MSVU requirements regarding in-person contact with participants. In-person research requires additional clearance and may not proceed until this second level clearance is obtained.

MSVU Level 4- Restricted Reopening

Face-to-Face research continues, including research off-campus and in the community, following a research plan approved by the Lab Access Committee. Researchers must send an email to ethics@msvu.ca to indicate they are now resuming under MSVU Level4 (Restricted).

If researchers have not yet applied to resume F2F research, please follow the instructions below:

  • In-person research requires additional clearance as outlined in this document, prior to the start of the research.
  • Collection of contact tracing information is no longer required. Researchers may continue to use the modified Risk Assessment tool for screening.
  • Researchers should be aware that any data collected in this pandemic environment may alter, skew or contaminate their results, unless their focus includes COVID 19 questions. Further, researchers may need to address/disclose this in publications and other knowledge dissemination activities when documenting method and timeframe of data collection.
  • Masking is required for all research teams and research participants while on the MSVU Campus. Please refer to the MSVU COVID-19 Protocols
  • Researchers and participants are encouraged to continue to practice safe distancing where appropriate and if possible.
  • For in-person research that takes place off-campus, researchers and participants must follow Public Health guidelines and/or the guidelines required at the location of the research.
  • Posted room capacity limits remain in place and must be adhered to.

The UREB has worked closely with the Lab Access Committee and Senior Administration to develop procedures for resuming F2F research in a narrow and phased approach. Researchers are invited to review the process and procedures and submit applications for resuming F2F research studies, keeping in mind that researchers must also plan for immediate cessation of research if conditions change.

Any research that involves F2F interaction must have clearance from the UREB and the Lab Access Committee.

Researchers who wish to conduct in-person human participant research studies are asked to first review the documents below to determine if their research meets the current criteria for resumption of research with human participants:

  • REB.SOP.502 – Resumption of F2F Research – Updated September 6, 2022
  • REB.INFO.501 – Current Human Research Participant F2F Status (COVID)  – Updated September 6, 2022
  • REB.INFO.502 – Researcher Procedures for F2F Research – Updated June 1, 2022
  • REB.FORM.018 – Supplementary Research Form (COVID) – Updated June 1, 2022
  • REB.FORM.019 – COVID Risk Assessment – Updated June 1, 2022
  • REB.TMPL.008 – COVID Information Letter – Updated September 6, 2022

For more information, please contact ethics@msvu.ca.

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