Harmonized Review

Harmonized Review

On this page:

1. Does my study need harmonized review?
2. Applying for Harmonized Review
3. PREP Account (UBC CWL)
4. PREP Link
5. PREP Resources

UFV is now a member of the Research Ethics British Columbia (REBC) network and part of the province-wide, harmonized system for research ethics reviews of studies conducted in multiple geographic areas involving the resources, people, patients or data from more than one BC research institution. See the list of affiliated institutions.

Does my study need harmonized review?

If you, or research team members you are working with for a study, are conducting research under the auspices of UFV as well as another REBC network institution, a harmonized application is required and should be submitted via PREP.

Examples of applications requiring harmonized review include, but are not limited to:

• UFV PI collaborating with researcher(s) at UBC, SFU, KPU, Fraser Health, etc.
• UFV PI holding dual affiliations between at UBC, SFU, KPU, Fraser Health, etc.
• UFV PI recruiting participants from UBC, SFU, KPU, Fraser Health, etc.
• UFV PI recruiting students or staff or patients through their work email that is not publicly available
• UFV graduate student with an external committee member/supervisor at UBC, SFU etc, or vice-versa - this may not always be the case please check with the institution before applying. 
• UFV PI recruiting students, employees, or patients through an institutionally managed email list at SFU, KPU, etc (please check with the ethics officers at other institutions on how they manage these types of requests before applying).

Examples of applications that do not require harmonized review include:

• UFV PI collaborating with researcher(s) at UFV
• UFV PI recruiting participants from UFV or the general public or community organizations, etc.
• UFV PI recruiting participants through community groups, social media channels not managed by REBC institutions, private emails, newsletters, listserves, etc.  
• UFV PI recruiting through snowball sampling methods/social networks with no direct intention of sampling from REBC network institutions.
• UFV PI recruiting from an REBC institution through publicly available emails only.

If you are unsure if your application requires harmonized review, please contact the ethics officer.

Applications requiring harmonized review will not be accepted through UFV's ROMEO application system.

Applying for Harmonized Review

The Provincial Research Ethics Platform (PREP) is available to UFV Researchers and is hosted by UBC’s Research Information System (RISe). Note that PREP looks almost identical to RISe, and guidance notes will be directed towards UBC processes and the UFV logo will not appear. You are still in the right spot and UFV will review your application (along with our REBC partners) and the UFV logo will appear on the approval letter.

PREP Account (UBC Campus Wide Login)

1. To access PREP you need to obtain a UBC Campus Wide Login or CWL which can be done here: https://activate.id.ubc.ca/iamweb/
   1. For assistance follow these instructions: https://healthresearchbc.ca/research-ethics-bc/info-and-resources/information-for-researchers/ 
   2. UFV researchers can sign up for a Basic account (i.e. non-UBC affiliated investigators).
2. Once the CWL is created you will need to contact risesupport@ors.ubc.ca to complete the registration with your researcher number
3. RISe Support may contact UFV to confirm your identity and requested permissions. This may take a day or two.

PREP/RISe link

Once you have an account and are registered, sign in to https://www.rise.ubc.ca/

PREP/RISe Resources

Please note that some of the following resources are developed by UBC and informed by UBC practices. However, as PREP lives on a system developed and maintained by UBC, these resources can be extended to anyone who is working within PREP.

REBC Network of Affiliated Institutions

How-to Apply Video for Researchers

Other Resources and guidelines

Questions: Contact researchethicsbc@healthresearchbc.ca