Screen and classify
Administrative completeness, jurisdiction, eligibility, protocol classification, and the need for enhanced screening.
Independent institutional assessment
Ethical, responsible, and accountable research.
The Research Committee provides institutional ethics assessment, research-compliance review, protocol classification, participant-protection assessment, and post-decision oversight for eligible research protocols within its approved mandate.
Coming Soon
The online submission and researcher portals are currently being prepared.
For student, faculty, institutional, independent, and authorized partner research.
Important accreditation and scope notice
Institutional assessment within a defined mandate
The Research Committee is not presently accredited by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board. Committee documents are institutional ethics-assessment, determination, referral, or research-compliance documents. They are not PHREB-accredited ethical clearance, CHED approval, regulatory authorization, research-site permission, funding approval, or a guarantee of acceptance by any third party.
Protocols requiring PHREB-accredited, clinical, regulatory, site-specific, or specialized review will be referred or declined, as appropriate. Administrative screening does not guarantee acceptance for substantive ethics assessment.
What the Committee does
Ethics and compliance support across the research lifecycle
The Committee assesses participant protection, informed participation, privacy, research integrity, data governance, and responsible use of technology. It complements—but does not replace—academic, institutional, site, legal, regulatory, or publication review.
Assess protections
Consent, assent, recruitment, voluntariness, participant risk, vulnerability, privacy, and confidentiality.
Review data and technology
Research data governance, AI use, cloud services, third-party processors, research integrity, and conflicts of interest.
Provide oversight
Amendments, continuing review, deviations, complaints, data breaches, incidents, and study closure.
Who may apply
Research ethics support for different research settings
Applications remain subject to scope, jurisdiction, documentation, and institutional screening. Researcher category alone does not guarantee acceptance for substantive assessment.
Undergraduate researchers
Theses, capstone projects, and comparable academic requirements.
Graduate researchers
Research papers, theses, dissertations, and graduate capstone projects.
Faculty researchers
Individual, collaborative, institutionally supported, or community-based studies.
Institutional researchers
Program evaluation, organizational research, and policy-related studies.
Independent researchers
Subject to identity, competence, accountability, site, and data-security checks.
Institutional partners
Authorized schools, organizations, government, nonprofit, and research partners.
Scope of review
Is your protocol within the Committee's mandate?
The Committee may assess eligible non-regulated research within its institutional mandate, expertise, capacity, and current accreditation status.
Scope Check · Coming SoonEligible non-regulated research
- Education, social, and behavioral sciences
- Business, governance, communication, and humanities
- Institutional, program, workplace, and community research
- Non-clinical psychology and interdisciplinary research
- Undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and independent research
Specialized or regulated research
- Clinical trials, drugs, biologics, or medical devices
- Invasive procedures or alteration of patient care
- Biological specimens, genetic, or genomic research
- Health research requiring PHREB-accredited review
- Protocols under another REC's mandatory jurisdiction
Review pathways at a glance
A proportionate route for every eligible protocol
Pathways are assigned after administrative and jurisdictional screening. Service periods are targets, not guaranteed completion dates.
Non-Coverage
For activities that do not constitute human-participant research requiring substantive review within the Committee's jurisdiction.
Exemption
For eligible low-risk activities within an exemption category recognized under Committee policy.
Expedited Assessment
For eligible minimal-risk protocols assessed by one or more designated qualified reviewers.
Full-Committee Assessment
For eligible protocols with heightened risk, vulnerability, sensitivity, power relationships, or ethical complexity.
Focused Compliance
For a defined assessment of consent, privacy, data governance, research integrity, AI use, or conflicts of interest.
Referral or Declination
For protocols outside the Committee's competence, jurisdiction, mandate, expertise, resources, or accreditation status.
How the process works
From institutional endorsement to post-decision compliance
- 01
Complete institutional requirements
Obtain the required adviser, department, institution, project-head, or research-site endorsement.
- 02
Submit through the official portal
Create an authorized account and upload the complete application and supporting documents.
- 03
Administrative and jurisdictional screening
The Secretariat checks completeness, consistency, eligibility, jurisdiction, and possible referral.
- 04
Classification and fee confirmation
The pathway, applicable fee, and payment procedure are confirmed after initial screening.
- 05
Ethics or compliance assessment
Qualified and impartial reviewers assess the protocol and may request revisions or clarification.
- 06
Decision, determination, or referral
The authorized official document is released through the portal.
- 07
Post-decision compliance
Implement only the reviewed version and report amendments, deviations, incidents, and study closure.
Before you submit
Prepare a complete and consistent protocol package
Research activities requiring prior ethics review—including participant recruitment and data collection—must not begin before the required decision becomes effective.
Do not make payment yet.
Payment instructions are provided only after the application is screened, considered complete enough for processing, and provisionally within scope.
Submission readiness
- Academic or institutional endorsement is secured
- Protocol and supporting documents are complete and consistent
- Consent, assent, or parental-permission materials are appropriate
- Privacy, retention, sharing, and disposal safeguards are documented
- AI, cloud service, and third-party technology use is disclosed
- Conflicts of interest and cross-border arrangements are disclosed
Coming soon
Online applications are being prepared.
The secure portal will support the complete researcher workflow—from initial screening and protocol submission to revisions and post-decision reporting.
Protect confidential research information.
Do not send protocols, participant information, complaints, incident reports, or protected records through personal email, social media, public forms, or unsecured links.
Researcher portal
Planned services
01
New protocol application
Coming soonResearcher profile, application, declarations, and required documents.
02
Jurisdiction and pathway screening
Coming soonPreliminary screening for scope, risk, and the appropriate review route.
03
Revision and amendment response
Coming soonPoint-by-point responses, revised documents, and post-decision changes.
04
Incident and study-closure reporting
Coming soonSecure reporting for deviations, complaints, data breaches, and closure.