Unisa Research Ethics Review Structure

All research conducted by academics, professionals and students at Unisa must obtain ethics approval before data collection, including research involving human participants, animals, environmental and laboratory studies, secondary data, and desktop studies. Ethics approval is not granted retrospectively.

Unisa follows a decentralised research ethics operational system. Each College has its own Ethics Review Committee (ERC). The College ERCs include the chairpersons of the various schools and departmental ERCs. The Unisa Research Ethics Review Committee (URERC) is a sub-committee of the Senate Research, Innovation, Postgraduate Studies and Commercialisation Committee (SRIPCC) with a strategic oversight function.  The URERC membership includes the different College ERC chairpersons and additional members to ensure the necessary qualifications and expertise.

Unisa researchers and postgraduate students must apply for ethics approval from the College ERCs where they are registered. Applicants must complete a separate application form for each research category.

Non-Unisa (external) researchers who wish to conduct research at Unisa involving Unisa employees, students, or data will apply for ethics approval from the Unisa Research Ethics Review Committee (URERC). Contact URERC@unisa.ac.za for more information. Unisa professional and administrative employees who wish to conduct research must apply for ethics approval from the Professional Research Committee Ethics Work Group (PRC_EWG). Please contact the administrator PARC@unisa.ac.za for more information.

In compliance with the NHREC, all health and health-related research must obtain ethics approval certificate from an ERC that is registered with the NHREC. 

Unisa has three Research Ethics Committees registered to the National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) that reviews health research.

Applying for Research Ethics Approval

How to apply for ethics review at Unisa using the Online Research Ethics Management Application System (OREMS):

1. To apply for ethics clearance, click on the following link; https://unisa.forms.ethicalreviewmanager.com/
2. Register and validate your e-mail address. If you are a postgraduate student, please register with your mylife e-mail address.
3. Contact the OREMS administrator with any difficulties that you may encounter: REapplications@unisa.ac.za
4. Applicants are responsible to submit their ethics application to the respective ethics committee after all sign off and supervisor approval (where applicable).

For more information, see the OREMS Applicant Manual

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Research Ethics Risk Assessment

Research Ethics Information per College: 

• College of Human Sciences 
• College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences 
• College of Education
• College of Economic and Management Sciences
• College of Science, Engineering and Technology
• College of Law