Metrics for Western's Research Ethics Boards
Western’s Research Ethics Boards (REBs) – the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board (HSREB) and the Non-Medical Research Ethics Board (NMREB) – and the human research ethics team provide service to the university and local hospitals. These metrics allow us to target education to increase the quality of submissions, recruit reviewers from underrepresented departments and look at internal administrative processes for quality improvement and resource allocation.
In 2024
How many applications did Western's REBs process?
Initial Applications
1156
Continuing Ethics Reviews
3064
Amendments
2176
Reportable
Events
345
Average response times
The following data reflects the average workdays for the Health Sciences and Non Medical REBs to issue recommendations and the average researcher response times
8 days
19 days
16 days
18 days
Did Western’s REBs meet their posted initial review timelines?
HSREB
3–4 weeks
95%
13 days
NMREB
3–4 weeks
47%
23 days
How long did approval take?
HSREB Approvals
(delegated)
- 20%
- 53%
- 14%
- 13%
HSREB Approvals
(full board)
- 4%
- 46%
- 27%
- 23%
NMREB Approvals
(delegated and full board)
- 7%
- 57%
- 22%
- 14%
HSREB Amendment Approvals
Proportion approved within a given time (days)
- 44%
- 48%
- 8%
NMREB Amendment Approvals
Proportion approved within a given time (days)
- 16%
- 18%
- 66%*
*The average was 13 days
What were some common reasons for longer review times?
- Staffing shortages
- Initial applications incomplete when submitted (e.g., missing documents, missing information, incorrect signatories)
- Research plan misaligned with institutional policies/procedures.
- Inconsistencies within the application
- Logistics not fully conceptualized (insufficient detail about each of the research activities to allow 3rd party replication)
- Multi-site studies where the local research procedures were not defined
- Student applications with insufficient PI oversight
2023
In 2023
How many applications did Western's REBs process?
Initial Applications
1105
Continuing Ethics Reviews
3053
Amendments
2007
Reportable
Events
356
Average response times
The following data reflects the average workdays for the Health Sciences and Non Medical REBs to issue recommendations and the average researcher response times
8 days
18 days
12 days
12 days
Did Western’s REBs meet their posted initial review timelines?
HSREB
3–4 weeks
91%
12 days
NMREB
3–4 weeks
42%*
21 days
*Due to a staffing shortage, the timeline was revised to 6 weeks mid-year and achieved 80%
How long did approval take?
HSREB Approvals
(delegated)
- 20%
- 53%
- 14%
- 13%
HSREB Approvals
(full board)
- 6%
- 59%
- 23%
- 13%
NMREB Approvals
(delegated and full board)
- 10%
- 62%
- 22%
- 6%
What were some common reasons for longer review times?
- Staffing shortages
- Initial applications incomplete when submitted (e.g., missing documents, missing information, incorrect signatories)
- Research plan misaligned with institutional policies/procedures.
- Inconsistencies within the application
- Logistics not fully conceptualized (insufficient detail about each of the research activities to allow 3rd party replication)
- Multi-site studies where the local research procedures were not defined
- Student applications with insufficient PI oversight
2022
In 2022
How many applications did Western's REBs process?
Initial Applications
1127
Continuing Ethics Reviews
2836
Amendments
1998
Reportable
Events
471
Average response times
The following data reflects the average workdays for the Health Sciences and Non Medical REBs to issue recommendations and the average researcher response times
11 days
15 days
14 days
13 days
Did Western’s REBs meet their posted initial review timelines?
HSREB
3–4 weeks
84%
14 days
NMREB
3–4 weeks
74%
20 days
How long did approval take?
HSREB Approvals
(delegated)
- 2%
- 49%
- 15%
- 35%
HSREB Approvals
(full board)
- 17%
- 58%
- 13%
- 13%
NMREB Approvals
(delegated and full board)
- 12%
- 56%
- 22%
- 10%
What were some common reasons for longer review times?
- Initial applications incomplete when submitted (e.g., missing documents, missing information, incorrect signatories)
- Research plan misaligned with institutional policies/procedures.
- Inconsistencies within the application
- Logistics not fully conceptualized (insufficient detail about each of the research activities to allow 3rd party replication)
- Multi-site studies where the local research procedures were not defined
- Student applications with insufficient PI oversight
2021
In 2021
How many applications did Western's REBs process?
Initial Applications
1191
Continuing Ethics Reviews
2684
Amendments
1956
Reportable
Events
568
Average response times
The following data reflects the average workdays for the Health Sciences and Non Medical REBs to issue recommendations and the average researcher response times
9 days
15 days
15 days
13 days
Did Western’s REBs meet their posted initial review timelines?
HSREB
3–4 weeks
98%
12 days
NMREB
3–4 weeks
40%
25 days
*NMREB times were slower due to challenges with reviewer availability. OHRE is working with the NMREB to review process in order to improve this metric.
How long did approval take?
HSREB Approvals
(delegated)
- 25%
- 51%
- 13%
- 7%
HSREB Approvals
(full board)
- 6%
- 46%
- 29%
- 19%
NMREB Approvals
(delegated and full board)
- 6%
- 62%
- 25%
- 7%
What were some common reasons for longer review times?
- Initial applications incomplete when submitted (e.g., missing documents, missing information, incorrect signatories).
- Research plan misaligned with institutional policies/procedures.
- Inconsistencies within the application.
- Logistics not fully conceptualized (insufficient detail about each of the research activities to allow 3rd party replication).
- Multi-site studies where the local research procedures were not defined
- Student applications with insufficient PI oversight
2020
In 2020
How many applications did Western's REBs process?
Initial Applications
1144
Continuing Ethics Reviews
2623
Amendments
1793
Reportable
Events
789
Average response times
The following data reflects the average workdays for the Health Sciences and Non Medical REBs to issue recommendations and the average researcher response times
9 days
11 days
10 days
15 days
Did Western’s REBs meet their posted initial review timelines?
HSREB
3–4 weeks
92%
11 days
NMREB
2–3 weeks
50%
18 days
*NMREB times were slightly slower due to challenges with reviewer availability. OHRE is working with the NMREB to review process in order to improve this metric.
How long did approval take?
HSREB Approvals
(delegated)
- 36%
- 40%
- 14%
- 9%
HSREB Approvals
(full board)
- 2%
- 48%
- 28%
- 22%
NMREB Approvals
(delegated and full board)
- 21%
- 57%
- 9%
- 13%
What were some common reasons for longer review times?
- Initial applications incomplete when submitted (e.g., missing documents, missing information, incorrect signatories)
- Research plan misaligned with institutional policies/procedures
- Inconsistencies within the application
- Logistics not fully conceptualized (insufficient detail about each of the research activities to allow 3rd party replication)
