University research policies regarding self-experimentation

Mark R. Diamond made this Freedom of Information request to Australian National University as part of a batch sent to 37 authorities

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The request was successful.

To the University.

I would be grateful if you would, if possible, deal with this request under administrative arrangements rather than invoking the cumbersome machinery of the Freedom of Information/Right to Information Act.

I am seeking a copy of any policy documents that your university has (most likely with your Human Research Ethics Committee [HREC], or similar) regarding research involving self-experimentation, by which I mean those projects or experiments in which the only participant is the researcher themselves.

I am particularly interested in (i) whether your university has an explicit policy regarding self-experimentation, and (ii) whether self-experimentation requires HREC review.

Yours faithfully,

Mark R. Diamond

Good afternoon,

Your Freedom of Information Request has been received by the University and you will be contacted further shortly.

Please note that ANU will shut down from Friday 23 December 2022 until Monday 2 January 2023 inclusive, reopening on Tuesday 3 January 2023. This shut down period and staff absences may affect the processing of FOI applications.

Yours sincerely

Inga Mildner
Information Governance Support Officer
Scholarly Information Services
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia

Email: [email address]
Web http://universityrecords.anu.edu.au/

CRICOS Provider #00120C

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Dear Mark

In response to your request we have consulted with the Office of Research
and Innovation Services and can advise that:

ANU does not have a specific policy that deals with self-experimentation
solely, however, we would expect that any such research would require
review by the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and that the research
would be reviewed under the National Statement as for all human research.

The following links to publicly available University webpages provide
further details:

Human Research Ethics Committee
[1]https://services.anu.edu.au/planning-gov...

ANU Human Ethics application
[2]https://services.anu.edu.au/research-sup...

Human Ethics Team
[3]https://services.anu.edu.au/research-sup...

Policy: Responsible Conduct of Research
[4]https://policies.anu.edu.au/ppl/document...

Responsible Research Practice
[5]https://services.anu.edu.au/research-sup...

Research Integrity Advisors
[6]https://services.anu.edu.au/research-sup...

Further information can be sought from the Human Ethics Team via
[7][email address].

Regards

Megan

Megan Easton

Senior Data Governance Officer