Committee for Research and Ethics (CWBE) of the School of Religion and Theology

More information about CWBE

• Committee for Research and Ethics (CWBE)

  Much of the research conducted within the School of Religion and Theology makes use of personal data or sensitive data. Personal data includes all types of information relating to identified or identifiable natural persons whether or not pseudonymized. This can include, for example, questionnaires, but also photos, databases, video clips, audio recordings, or social media messages. Researchers at VU Amsterdam who use personal data in their research must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Implementation Act General Data Protection Regulation (UAVG). To guide and advise researchers in setting up their research in a lawful and ethically responsible manner, all research projects involving the processing of personal data must be submitted to the Committee for Research and Ethics (CWBE) of SRT.

  Maintaining ethical standards during research and obtaining approval from an ethics committee when necessary is an integral part of complying with the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (see 3.2 (13) and 4.6 (18) of the 2018 version). An increasing number of scientific journals, as well as Dutch and European funding agencies, require formal approval from an Ethics Committee before an article can be published or a grant can be awarded.

  The Committee for Research and Ethics (CWBE) of SRT has as its primary goal the ethical review of research within the school that involves people or the collection and processing of personal/sensitive data, before the execution of the research begins. An application to the CWBE must be submitted at least one month before the start of a research project. This concerns both research that takes place within the university premises, as well as research conducted on behalf of the university (for example at a school, company, or institution). Research by a guest researcher must first be reviewed by their own institution before it can be submitted to the CWBE SRT.

  Requesting an ethical review is only possible for research that is not medical in nature. Research within the school that falls under the category of medical scientific research must, according to the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO), be approved by an accredited medical ethical review committee (METC). In case of doubt, the CWBE may first request a non-WMO declaration before the research is considered by the CWBE.

• CWBE Composition and members

  The CWBE consists of a chairperson and a number of members with such expertise that the different types of research conducted within the School of Religion and Theology are covered. The FSH research office provides the secretary of the committee.

  Committee members

  • Prof. dr. Katja Tolstoj (Chair CWBE; section Religious Beliefs & Ethics)
  • Prof. dr. August den Hollander (Director Graduate School; section Religious History & Heritage)
  • Prof. dr. Dion Forster (section Religious Beliefs & Ethics)
  • Dr. Yusuf Çelik (section Religious Sources) Rita van der Schriek-Hermans MA (secretary CWBE; Privacy Champion en Data Steward)

• Ethical Review Procedure CWBE

  Before the start of the ethical review procedure, an intake meeting will be scheduled with the secretary of the CWBE. During this meeting, the ethical procedure is discussed, there is room for asking questions, and the secretary determines whether an ethical review is necessary and, if so, which procedure should be chosen (standard or extended).

  For the ethical review, the researcher must fill in the CWBE ethical review form. The form must be completed in full and accompanied by a Data Management Plan (DMP), an information letter, and a consent form. Researchers at VU Amsterdam can use the online tool DMPonline to create a DMP. This tool offers various templates from different funding organizations. Examples and templates for preparing the information letter and the consent form can be found under the heading “CWBE Documents” (see below).

  The CWBE will then assess whether the application complies with the VU RDM and Privacy guidelines, the GDPR and UAVG, and the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. The committee may request additional information or changes before issuing a formal advice. For standard research (research that has been conducted for many years within the School of Religion and Theology), an expedited procedure by the CWBE can take place with written consultation of the other members. More complex applications are handled in physical meetings of the CWBE.

  Currently, the CWBE only assesses research that will be conducted by students when one or more of the following criteria are met:

  • The student's supervisor plans to publish the research results together with the student;
  • The student's supervisor wishes to reuse the data collected by the student in further research;
  • A third party has requested an ethical review for this project. In the event that one or more of these conditions apply to the project, the student's supervisor must submit an ethical review form. In the event that none of the aforementioned conditions apply to the project, the supervisor and student should together make arrangements regarding the safe use of the research data. For advice and support, they can contact the secretary of the CWBE.

• CWBE Documents

  • Ethical Review Form
  • Template Information letter
  • Template Consent form 

• Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

  To ensure the trustworthiness of research, the integrity of the research process is essential. Although academic disciplines differ in approach and methods, the importance holds true for all research fields: the guiding principles honesty, scrupulousness, transparency, independence and responsibility governing the standards for responsible research are universal across disciplines.

  In the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (2018) the principles of research integrity are clarified and specified in guidelines for good research practices. The purpose of this document is to provide and educational and normative framework for researchers, trainee researchers and students; a frame of reference for the executive boards of research institutions and for research integrity committees (when assessing alleged research misconduct) and finally it sets out a number of duties of care for institutions.

• Netherlands Research Integrity Network (NRIN)

  The purpose of the Netherlands Research Integrity Network is to raise awareness, to provide relevant information and to be a platform for discussion of issues of research integrity (RI) and responsible conduct of research (RCR). The network organizes multiple open symposia and closed meetings every year, with the goal to bring together a group of stakeholders interested in RI and RCR. The symposia regularly depart from an educational or research related perspective, focusing on explanatory factors or prevention on the level of the individual researcher, the local research culture and in the system of science as a whole. Closed meeting on the other hand, are solely for confidential counsellors, members of committees treating allegations, and RCR policy advisors. These meetings may also include confidential discussions of anonymized individual cases. In addition to the events and meetings, the network’s website functions as a portal that contains relevant information, tools and contact information, which we update frequently.