The status of continuing ethics review and continuing ethics review practices by Canadian Research Ethics Boards

This thesis study examined Canadian Research Ethics Boards' (REB) practices with regard to continuing ethics review of approved studies. A mail-out questionnaire was used to elicit information from Canadians Research Ethics Board representatives about whether they engage in continuing ethics review and their current continuing ethics review methods.;Implications from this study include the need to: (a) increase the REBs role in on-going research, (b) increase personnel and resources, and (c) reassess current REB continuing ethics review practices regarding low risk research.;This thesis study found that a majority of REBs conduct continuing ethics review (87.4%). The most commonly reported continuing ethics review method was a review of on-going research reports. REBs conduct continuing ethics review significantly more often for clinical trials research than for academic research. There was no significant difference between academic and other types of REBs with regards to their frequency in conducting continuing ethics review.