Ethics Committee BMS / Domain Humanities & Social Sciences

Research with human subjects can take many different forms. Basically, it is scientific research that depends on the participation of humans to generate data for further analysis. It includes interviews, surveys, observations, laboratory and field experiments, recording and manipulation of physiological functioning, interventions in human behavior and/or physiological functioning, focus groups, ethnography, but also living labs and analysis of social media content. In all these cases, the interests of the human beings studied may conflict with the interests of the researcher and the value of science as a whole. Therefore, a careful ethical assessment is necessary. Such assessment is carried out by the BMS Ethics Committee (EC) or - in case of research that is medically oriented - by an accredited MREC or the CCMO.  

If your research has undergone ethical assessment outside the Netherlands, we ask you to submit it for assessment by us as well, as ethical guidelines for conducting research may differ between countries. Please submit the ethically reviewed documents in the original language, and a translation (English/Dutch) of the document.

If your research has been assessed and approved by an ethics committee in the Netherlands, but outside the Faculty of BMS, the BMS Ethics Committee may adopt that decision. To enable us to judge the review, you should always provide the Secretary of the BMS Ethics Committee with documentation on the external submission and the decision. Also, identify whether the organization with which you will be working has its own requirements and policy for the ethical review of research. If it does, submit your proposal to this organization, and provide us with a copy of your application and the resulting decision. 

In case of a research subject to WMO/non-WMO (Wet medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen) read further under 'medical-ethical review'. Please note: Non-WMO research still needs ethical review by our BMS Ethical Committee (BMS EC). 

When human subjects are involved, ethical approval is compulsory before the start of such a study at the University of Twente. When research is subject to the Dutch Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO) it can only commence after approval of an independent committee of experts, a Medical Research Ethics Committee (MREC). 

Research falls under the WMO if the following criteria are met: 

1. It concerns medical/scientific research and
2. Participants are subject to procedures or are required to follow rules of behaviour

Some explanation of these criteria can be found on the site of the CCMO.

If your research satisfies these two criteria, you have to undergo a review by an accredited MREC or the CCMO, instead of a review by our BMS/HSS Ethics Committee. In practice, there will always be cases in which it is not immediately clear whether a study is or is not subject to the WMO, resulting in the so-called grey area. For the medical-ethical review the University of Twente collaborates with an accredited medical research ethics committee (MREC), the METC Oost-Nederland (in Dutch). When in doubt, reach out to TechMed support (researchsupport-techmed@utwente.nl) or contact the MREC or CCMO. 

TechMed Supports

TechMed supports and facilitates researchers across the university with specific Health-related research support, e.g. WMO applicability, design and processing of an MREC application, and complementary procedures like insurance for research subjects, local feasibility, EDC software and monitoring, and applicability of the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), and implementation of technology in health. Get in contact. 

Non-WMO research

If your research does not fall within the scope of the WMO, it does not need to be reviewed by an accredited MREC or the CCMO. However, please note that you may still need a non-WMO declaration if you conduct your research in a hospital or another medical institution. 
Additionally, check whether the organization you are collaborating with has its own ethics review procedures or requirements. If so, you must submit your proposal to that organization and provide us with a copy of both your application and their decision. 

Important: all non-WMO research must still be submitted for review by a UT ethics domain committee. A declaration that your research is ‘not subject to WMO’ does NOT imply that the research is ethically sound. If you have a non-WMO declaration, please include it as an attachment when submitting your ethics application.

Please note that the BMS Ethics Committee assesses research with human subjects carried out by, or under supervision of, employees of the BMS Faculty only. The Ethical review of research is obligatory for employees as well as for students' bachelor/master thesis projects using human subjects. Researchers from other faculties have to comply with the rules and procedures within their own faculty. If researchers from different faculties are involved in the same project, the human subjects research should be assessed by the faculty of the principal investigator.

Students from programs offered by other UT-faculties, in which BMS employees are involved as supervisors should comply with the ethical regulations of their (first) supervisor’s faculty. This means that students from, for example 'the Health Sciences program', should submit their project for ethical approval to the BMS Ethics committee only if their first supervisor is a BMS-employee.

For Teachers: Student research in the context of modules or courses

The Ethics Committee of the BMS Faculty developed a guidance document for teachers who offer modules or courses in which students are trained in research. Different from student research for the bachelor or master thesis, such student research need not be standardly submitted for ethical review. At the same time, the Faculty wants to ensure that such research is conducted in a responsible manner. The attached document discusses relevant considerations and gives some advice on how teachers could safeguard ethical standards 

If you have any questions about how to proceed in particular courses or modules, you can always contact the ethics contact person (under Contacts) of your department, or the BMS Ethics Committee itself, via Lyan Kamphuis-Blikman: ethicscommittee-bms@utwente.nl

Procedure web application and review of your research request

You can submit your request for ethics assessment via the UT Ethics Review Tool. The person responsible for the research completes a series of questions about the project. These cover:

• General information – e.g., research purpose and research question
• Type of research – e.g., collection of new data or use of existing/secondary data
• Specific details – e.g., sessions, consent, information provided to participants, and participants’ expectations

If you do not complete the questionnaire in one go, you can save a draft and continue later. We recommend submitting your request at least four weeks before you plan to start collecting data.

Once you have submitted the application, the tool automatically forwards it to the supervisor (if applicable). For research conducted by students or PhD candidates, the supervising staff member shares responsibility for the project.

After the supervisor’s approval, the secretary of the Ethics Committee (EC) assigns the application to the appropriate EC reviewer. The reviewer will assess whether the research meets the requirements for ethically responsible research. If clarification or changes are needed, you will receive an automated email with the reviewer’s questions or suggestions. The request is in the status 'waiting for researcher'. You can then update your answers in the application form and, if useful, add a comment. Remember to click ‘Submit for review’ after making changes, and check if any validation errors appear. If so, address the errors and press resubmit again. When your resubmission is successful, the status changes to 'waiting for reviewer'.

The final decision—positive or negative advice—will be sent to you via automated email. Reviewers aim to complete the ethics review within 10 working days after receiving the application.

More information

A PDF of the questions in the ethics domains (and the informational notes accompanying each question) is available in the UT Ethical Review tool at the right top 'download example questionnaire' (e.g. for use when preparing the answers to the questions with your supervisor in advance).
An FAQ is available as well. 

Changes to your research after the ethics review is completed?

If any substantive changes (amendment) are made to the research proposal (eg., methods or design) after the ethics review has been completed, these changes must be submitted to the domain ethics committee that reviewed the research. Send your changes to the ethics committee domain HSS via: ethicscommittee-hss@utwente.nl, stating your application number. The changes will be judged by the secretary and, if necessary by the reviewer who was involved. It will be decided if they are approved or if the changes are too substantial, such that a new research application should be submitted. 

You participate in a study that is conducted by the University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioural, Management, and Social Sciences, which was ethically reviewed by our ethics committee Faculty BMS/ domain Humanities & Social Sciences. Would you like to stop your participation in the study, or do you have questions and/or complaints? If so, please contact the researcher.
Do you have questions about the research that you do not want to address via the researcher itself? For concerns regarding the design or conduct of the research, you may also contact the Secretary of the Ethics Committee/Domain of Humanities & Social Sciences of the Faculty of Behavioural, Management, and Social Sciences at the University of Twente at ethicscommittee-hss@utwente.nl.  

The ethics committee members will further consider your complaint and, if necessary, seek explanations from the researchers involved.

The BMS Faculty subscribes to the Dutch Code of Ethics for Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences involving human participants. Ethically responsible research is based on a broad set of general ethical principles, which guide the ethical assessment. The Dutch Code of Ethics for Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences is based in the following principles: 

• Researchers respect the dignity of humans and their environment by avoiding exploitation, treating participants and their communities with respect and care, and protecting those in a vulnerable position. 

1. Researchers take responsibility for the ethical conduct of research they are involved in. 
2. Researchers strive towards a minimization of risk and burdens for participants, communities, and society. They also protect their own safety and that of others involved in their research. 

• Researchers adopt an ethical attitude in which they are mindful of the meaning, implications, and consequences of the research for anyone affected by it, and take responsibility for possible adverse effects. 
• Researchers aim to avoid biases and strive for equitable participation of groups in and equitable access to potential benefits of research for local communities and other stakeholders. 
• Researchers demonstrate the ethical attitude by i) active reflection on the ethical issues that may arise during, or as a consequence of, their research, ii) initiating a proper assessment of the potential drawbacks of the research for individuals, communities and society, and iii) monitoring for any developments that may impact upon ethical aspects of the research. 
• Researchers are able to account for, and communicate regarding their ethical reflection vis-à-vis different stakeholders, such as the participants and their social system and communities, the own organization, scientific peers, students, funding agencies, and society. 
• Researchers conduct research that is scientifically valid, and that will plausibly lead to relevant insights in the field of the social and behavioural sciences. 

The ways in which these principles are safeguarded may vary to some degree depending on the field of research. Moreover, raising ethical awareness of scientists requires them to be stimulated, by way of the questions and considerations put to them in the ethical review procedure. 

BMS Data management Policy

As from 12 February 2025, the UT has a new Research Data Management (RDM) policy 
Next to that, BMS faculty has adopted a BMS General Guideline for Departments/Sections on Ethics, Privacy & RDM within BMS. This guide is useful for every researcher (especially new staff in your sections) in our faculty. You find all important info listed on 3 pages (without appendixes), with links to further guidance.

Note: students do not have to make a data management plan. Student and supervisor(s) have a joined responsibility in the proper handling of data collected by the student. Storage possibilities for students are listed here and save tools for online interviews.

Guidance on Data Management for students

There are a series of micro-lectures available teaching students how to handle their data during, and after, their study. Based on 5 simple questions, all aspects of Research Data Management (RDM) will be addressed in fun, animated, short online recordings. Next to that, we have listed some data storage options specifically for students. 

Privacy (GDPR) & Personal Data

When you collect or use personally identifiable data of persons (e.g., respondents, informants, test subjects, interviewees) who participate in your research, you have to comply with the GDPR privacy law. If possible, process the data of the persons in your research anonymously right from the start or as soon as possible, anonymous data does not fall under the GDPR law. You can also work with pseudonymization (make use of coding), in that case, make sure you keep the key secure and separate from your research data, pseudonymized data falls under GDPR regulations. More information on this can be found on the UT privacy website and on BMS Datalab.

Also, make sure that you know the rights of your participants and use an informed consent procedure when processing their personal data. 

Processor agreement / Verwerkersovereenkomst

When you work with an external party (processor) that helps you processing research data, you may need a processor agreement in case the research data is identifiable to individual persons (also the case if data is coded/pseudonymized). Get in contact with the PCP of BMS: Lyan Kamphuis-Blikman to sort out if this is necessary. 

Register your research with personal data (Report data processing)

The UT has a documentation obligation for data registrations of personal information. This means all research that processes data of persons. Therefore, employees and students (see FAQ) need to register their research. 

Read more info and the link to the UT GDPR Registration tool for processing Personal Data

For the BMS faculty, Lyan Kamphuis-Blikman is the Privacy Contact Person (PCP). The UT Data Protection Officer (DPO) can also be contacted.

SONA can be used for recruitment of student participants for research by BMS students/staff. However, it can only be used by students from the educational programmes that the faculty Behavioural, Management and Social Studies (BMS) support. 

For students of the bachelor Communication Science and Psychology participation as a test-subject is a requirement of the bachelor graduation learning goals. Students can fulfill their test-subject obligations by participating in the research projects put forward by academic staff and students via the Sona test-subject system.   

Amount of SONA credits for studies
'Online study' (such as surveys) in SONA will receive a max of 0.25 credits irrespective of the allocated research time. Note: Repeated online survey measurements may receive more credits, based on daily time-investment and actions asked.
Participation in 'lab study' types will cost more time, these will have an increase in credits, i.e.: 1 credit (60 minutes study participation) and lower will be doubled; 1,5 credits and higher will be raised with 0,5 credits. Studies can be awarded max 4,5 credits. 

Financial rewards
As a researcher, you may choose to pay test subjects that are not included in the SONA-pool for their participation. The payment guideline is €5.00 per hour in vouchers not in cash, this cannot be raised as 5€ volunteer fee has been determined by the tax authorities. It is not allowed to reward student participants with SONA credits and vouchers, it is either credits OR a voucher.

More information on the SONA test subject pool via the BMS Intranet.
The Sona test-subject system is coordinated by the research secretary’s office: Shaunie Schutten, tel (053) 489 1291, Ravelijn 3244, email: test-subjects-bms@utwente.nl

Recruitment of participants 

As of June'2023 UT has a website 'Meedoen met Onderzoek' (Dutch) for people outside the UT to check if there are research projects searching for participants, and if people like to be informed on the research in order to decide if they want to participate. You as a researcher/student can contact Renske van Wijk via meedoen@utwente.nl to inform if your research project can be shared on that page to help you recruit participants. 

Click for more information on informed participation & consent procedures and examples of informed consent forms (in Dutch and English). 

For more info on Research and Privacy (GDPR) go to BMS Datalab.

In many scientific disciplines, professional codes for ethical conduct of research have been published, outlining what is considered good ethical practice in a specific domain of research. These codes offer general principles and guidelines to take into account when you are designing your own research, and are often slightly more specific than the general ethical principles mentioned above. We have listed a few of them here. Please note that you need to consult only the code that is relevant to your discipline and/or research method and that the list is not exhaustive.

The BMS Faculty subscribes to the Dutch Code of Ethics for Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences involving human participants

The Ethics Committee has representatives in all BMS departments; they are listed below. Some of them are EC members, and others are EC contact persons. They all function as the first person to consult in that department when you have questions regarding the ethics of human subjects research. They also stimulate attention for research ethics in their department. EC members are involved in the assessment of research proposals and participate in policy discussions in committee meetings. Some of the EC contact persons are involved in the assessment of research proposals but do not participate in committee meetings.

The Committee members meet 4-5 times a year to discuss controversial cases, reflect on ongoing developments on research and their ethical implications, and advise the dean on policy issues regarding the ethics of human subjects research.

The EC is supported by a secretary, who you can contact in case of general questions concerning the EC and its functioning, the web application and also in case of complaints, Contact: ethicscommittee-bms@utwente.nl. The current secretary is Lyan Kamphuis-Blikman. Administrative tasks with regard to the assessment procedure and SONA are taken care of by the secretariat, whom you can also contact with questions regarding the web application.