North-West University has 13 Research Ethics Committees (RECs) distributed across faculties based on discipline and the risk level of the studies they review. Four of these committees are registered with the National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) and evaluate studies classified as medium to high risk, particularly those involving vulnerable populations. The remaining eight committees review studies classified as Minimal, low or negligible risk, provided they do not involve a health-related context or vulnerable populations. While NWU's RECs may vary in their scope based on the field of study, risk level, and research methodologies, all research must adhere to the following general principles:
- Beneficence and non-maleficence: maximize benefit and minimise harm in any research and the anticipated risks of harm posed by the research must be reasonable, considering anticipated benefits.
- Distributive justice (equality), a fair balance of risks and benefits amongst all role-players involved in research. It should reflect the principle of equality by no segment of the population being unduly burdened by harms of research or unfairly excluded from the potential benefits of research
- Respect (dignity and autonomy) for research participants, signifying the opportunity for self- determination about their choices. It recognizes the importance of dignity, well-being, privacy, confidentiality and safety interests of research participants and the ability of to deliberate about a decision and to act on that decision (principle of Autonomy)
A-REC’s
The NWU ascribe to the following 4 overarching principles as ethical point of departure for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes.
- The NWU cultivates the respect for the dignity of animals in research, as live and sentient beings
- The NWU endorses the universal 4Rs ethical principles pertaining to the use of animals for scientific purposes
- The NWU endorses the universal 12Rs framework pertaining to the ethical use of animals for scientific purposes
- The NWU upholds accountability and the highest ethical conduct in research using animals
OPTIMIZATION OF THE NWU ONLINE RESEARCH ETHICS SUPPORT SYSTEM