Research Ethics

Aberystwyth University is fully committed to maintaining and building upon the university’s successful research portfolio. Central to this is the awareness of the ethical considerations involved in all research projects; whether this includes human participants or not, human tissue, animals or personal data. 

In order to achieve this, it is important that we are committed to maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards in our research, from design to dissemination. Researchers should always act with integrity, accountability, honesty, openness and demonstrate levels of sensitivity to all cultures and environments.

An assessment is required for all research projects and the process is designed to not act as a barrier to research. We achieve this through underpinning our research with a number of quality, user-friendly processes and by providing relevant support, policies and guidance in a widely-accessible format. Researchers should also be aware of any professional body guidelines, departmental procedures and other ethical implications.

Support for Researchers

For further information, support and details on the process, information regarding the Concordat to Support Research Integrity and information on the animal ethical review process click below:

• Research Ethics
• Research Integrity
• Animal Ethics

Aberystwyth University is committed to supporting the best quality scientific research in terms of ethics, conduct and impact. It strongly supports the intention of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) 1986, as modified by EU Directive 2010/63/EU, which, under supervision by the Animals in Science Regulations Unit Division of the Home Office, rigorously controls experimental work involving animals. As part of our commitment, we fully endorse the ARRIVE guidelines produced by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) which focus on improving the design and reporting of animal studies. Each research project involving animals, whether covered by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 or not, is subject to an ethical review process by the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB) which includes lay members, external members and representatives from across the University.