Guidelines, Policies & Forms

The Department of Psychology at York University is committed to the highest standards of integrity. All projects involving the use of Human Subjects, Animals and Bio-hazardous Materials are subject to review by the appropriate University committee. York University has formulated policies for the conduct of research involving all three of these areas. It is the policy of the University that researchers conducting research involving human subjects, animals and/or bio-hazardous agents must obtain approval of their research from the relevant ethics committee prior to commencing research activities.

Should any person have a concern or question, please contact the following staff members, both of whom are located in York University’s Office of Research Ethics:

• Wendy Jokhoo–(416)-736-2100 ext. 55201
• Alison Collins-Mrakas–(416)-736-2100 ext. 55914

All research undertaken by graduate students under the auspices of the Department of Psychology (i.e. course-based research, major research papers (Academic Breadth Comprehensive), theses, dissertations and independent research) must be supervised by a full-time faculty member from the Department or by a qualified supervisor approved by the Graduate Program Director.

All graduate students conducting research (whether using human participants or not) must complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS2) tutorial. Once completed students should submit one copy of the certificate of completion to their supervisor and one copy to the graduate office. The certificate will then be placed in the student’s file. The graduate program director or assistant will be asked to confirm its presence when they forward forms to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS). Appropriate ethics approval must be obtained before any research begins.

Resources

• Faculty of Graduate Studies–Research Ethics
• Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists Handbook (.pdf)
• Psychology Ethics Flowcharts (.pdf)