Research became imperative during the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented unprecedented challenges for communities around the world. The urgency of the pandemic and the need for accelerated research placed research ethics committees (RECs) under significant strain. This guidance summarises seven serious challenges for RECs during COVID-19 and identifies recommendations and good practice for expedited ethics review. Recognising the collective responsibility of RECs, policymakers, funders, and research institutions in ensuring the efficacy of expedited procedures, advice is provided separately for REC members and other stakeholders. -- Funded by the European Union. UK participants in Horizon Europe Project PREPARED are supported by UK Research and Innovation grant number 10048353 (University of Central Lancashire). Swiss participants in Horizon Europe Project Prepared are supported by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Research Executive Agency or UKRI or SERI. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority nor UKRI or SERI can be held responsible for them.
Authors: Nadia Kornioti, Carly Jean Seedall, Katerina Kalaitzaki, Andreas Marcou
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18155763
Publish Year: 2025
