3. Ethics

Obtaining ethical clearance

An important aspect of your research project and an important aspect of research in general is the ethics approval process. Getting ethics approval for your research project is something that you are required to do. The ethics process is not designed to get in the way of your research. Instead, it is designed to help your research by meeting the first principle of medicine, which can also be seen as the first principle of research, and the first principle of any human conduct – Hippocrates’ notion of "First, do no harm."

As a researcher, you will be required to create an ethics application in conjunction with your supervisor. The research ethics approval process at Monash University is relatively painless and quick. Processes for obtaining ethical clearance vary depending on whether subjects are animals or humans. Either way, applications are made online by following the appropriate links on Monash Research Office's Ethics and Compliance page.

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do, and what is right to do -  Potter Stewart