Ethics Administration Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Organisations performing research, particularly those dealing with human or animal participants, often encounter ethics administration challenges throughout the lifecycle of their projects. As global research activities continue to accelerate, ethics administration is becoming increasingly important. Without effective ethics compliance solutions, institutions may face increased scrutiny and delays caused by administrative tasks. Using the right tools and technologies, organisations can streamline ethics management, ensuring both thoroughness and compliance.
Common Challenges in Ethics Administration
Complex and Evolving Regulatory Requirements
Research ethics in Australia are governed by numerous policies and standards that are continually evolving. Industries can have specific guidelines, such as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Institutions, such as individual universities, may also have unique codes of conduct. State, federal, and international bodies will all have different regulations and ethical parameters, while different legislation also applies to research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Researchers working across disciplines or institutions may find conflicting requirements that apply to their work, reinforcing the need for a streamlined ethics management process.
Inefficient and Manual Approval Processes
When conducting research, many organisations still rely on outdated, manual methods for processing ethics approvals. Paper forms, duplicated reviews for multi-site projects, and fragmented tracking processes can all contribute to significant delays in the research process. Many ethics committees meet infrequently, resulting in delayed or incomplete submissions that can delay the project by weeks or even months. This leads to frustration for stakeholders and research teams alike.
Poor Stakeholder Communication
Research projects involve numerous stakeholders, including committee members, governance officers, funders, and external participants. Each group provides valuable perspectives and expertise, and are vital to a comprehensive and successful project.
To be successful communication needs to be managed effectively, as each stakeholder may interpret guidelines differently or receive conflicting feedback. These misunderstandings may cause expectations to differ between groups, leading to delays that could be mitigated by streamlined research ethics management processes.
Lack of Transparency and Tracking
Without the right tracking systems in place, it can be challenging to monitor the progress of each ethics application. Changes and follow-up reviews may go unnoticed, while a lack of transparency can lead to researcher frustration or compliance issues that jeopardise the entire project. Organisations that manage multiple committees or handle multiple projects at a time face these risks without effective ethics compliance solutions.
Administrative Burden and Resource Constraints
Resource limitations can cause major issues in research projects involving ethics. Many ethics offices lack resources, often needing to process hundreds of applications each year. Teams with limited staff may be stretched too thin to maintain a high standard of quality while simultaneously meeting deadlines.
Together, these administrative challenges pose risks to managing ethics review panels in research projects. Below, we list some strategies and technologies that can assist in streamlining ethics compliance solutions for critical stakeholders.
How to Overcome Ethics Administration Challenges
Automate Workflows for Faster Approvals
Manual processes cause some of the most problematic bottlenecks in ethics approvals. Workflow automation streamlines the management of ethics applications, reducing paperwork and labour-intensive activities.
OmniStar’s powerful platform incorporates automated workflows that reduce admin time without compromising output quality. Administrator-designed ethics applications can be automatically routed, screened, assigned, and tracked. Reviewers, meanwhile, benefit from split-screen tools and built-in collaboration features for a faster, more transparent approval process.
Improve Compliance with Built-in Tracking
Remaining compliant with regulations is complex yet essential. OmniStar simplifies compliance with automated tracking capabilities, including version control and reporting functions. A full audit log records every action, which provides evidence for future reviews, while each version is protected from unauthorised changes. Configurable workflows and reports ensure all ethical frameworks are accounted for in research projects of all sizes. OmniStar’s extensive capabilities are why it is the trusted platform for REGIS, NSW Health’s Research Ethics and Governance Information System.
OmniStar also enables applicants to schedule automated reminders to ensure they are notified of upcoming deadlines. Organisations can track their applications in real time, ensuring compliance risks are minimised by preparing and submitting the correct documentation prior to audits taking place.
Use Data and Analytics to Improve Decision-Making
With comprehensive and accurate data, ethics committees can make fairer, more informed and consistent decisions. OmniStar’s reporting dashboards easily visualise application volumes and approval timelines. Applicants can easily see which stage they are in the process through their portal. This structured approach to administration uses data to analyse trends and bottlenecks across teams or projects.
Committees can also track reviewer workloads, compare notes and decisions, and monitor past approvals using OmniStar’s ethics administration software. These insights help committees to refine their processes, facilitating fairer resource allocation and improving the experience they provide to applicants.
Simplify Ethics Administration with OmniStar
Ethics management is a rigorous process which must be followed when a research project involves a human, animal or biosafety component. Despite an increasing number of ethics administration challenges faced by both researchers and reviewers, managing these applications can be a seamless process using OmniStar.
OmniStar combines automated workflows and compliance tracking with powerful data analytics, transforming the ways in which research institutions manage ethics approvals. Equally effective in reducing administrative burdens and improving transparency across the ethics approvals process, OmniStar is the ethics management and compliance software that scales and adapts to the needs of each project.
Contact us to book a demo and see how OmniStar can streamline your ethics management for research projects.
