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Ensuring Proper Ethical Considerations in Experiments and Surveys

March 1, 2024

SFC Research Ethics Committee


The SFC Research Ethics Committee oversees the Faculty of Policy Management, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and the Graduate School of Media and Governance when experiments or surveys are being conducted, in order to confirm whether proper ethical considerations are being given to such matters as bioethics, protection of privacy and human rights, and where necessary, gives guidance to the experiment/survey investigator. When an ethics review is needed prior to conference presentations, academic paper submissions, and the like, a review by this Committee is required.

Refer to the Committee meeting schedule below to confirm the date of the meeting and application deadline for each month.


To undergo a review, obtain the necessary forms from the link below, fill out the forms, and submit them to the SFC General Affairs Office at somu@sfc.keio.ac.jp.
Please note that for new applications, the applicant or experiment/survey investigator is required to attend the SFC Research Ethics Committee meeting to make a brief presentation of the application contents and answer questions related to the application.


Important Notes

The office in charge and Committee members will confirm the contents of the application prior to deliberation at the Committee meeting. Be sure to submit documents by the Monday of the week prior to the Committee meeting. Refer to the above Committee Meeting Schedule for each month's deadline.
The ethics review process, from receiving documents to the final approval, typically takes two to three months. Please be sure to take this time frame into consideration when making your application.


Application Form, Other Documents and Samples (keio.jp authentication)

*The following documents are available in Japanese only



* The retention period of the materials is specified in the following documents (available in Japanese only).
「研究活動における不正行為の防止体制に関する規則」, 「研究資料等の保存に関するガイドライン」.


Application Procedures

[New Applications]

  1. Researcher in charge must have completed the research ethics e-learning course "the Course for Keio researchers" provided by the Association for the Promotion of Research Integrity. The course is accessible from keio.jp. Research members whose affiliated institution is other than Keio University must have completed the aforementioned course or equivalent in their own institution. For Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects, all research members must have completed the aforementioned course within one year prior to the anticipated review date by SFC Research Ethics Committee.
  2. Submission of a valid copy of the aforementioned Course Completion Report is required.
  3. For research that utilizes a Research Description Form and Consent Form, it is required that these forms are submitted together with the application form.
  4. Convert all documents to be submitted to PDF, and send as an email attachment to SFC General Affairs Office at somu@sfc.keio.ac.jp.
  5. Combine all application documents into a single PDF in the order of Application Form, Research Description Form, Consent Form, and Supplementary Materials. If there are a large number of supplementary materials, add a table of contents as the first page of the PDF document.
  6. Your signature and/or seal are not necessary. Type research project leader's name after you and the leader checked "Confirm the following".
  7. As designated in Paragraph 2, Article 5 of the Internal Regulations, students cannot be an applicant. If the sender of the application email is an undergraduate or graduate student, he/she needs to ask his/her Academic Advisor (the applicant) to go through his/her application documents well in advance, and need to get his/her approval for application. The sender is also required to include the Academic Advisor (the applicant) in the cc of the email.
  8. In the application email, state the name of the person who will present the contents of the application at the Committee meeting, and include the contact details where that person can be reached on the day of the meeting. Undergraduate students who will make the presentation should be, in principle, accompanied by their Academic Advisors.
  9. In the event a document needs to be replaced, resubmit a PDF containing the entire set of documents.

[Application for Revisions]

An applicant who wants to revise some parts of his/her research plan which was already approved by the Committee can apply for its revisions.
Please make sure your certificate of approval for the previous application and fill in its certificate number and the date of approval in your new application form. Be sure to use the latest application form.


  1. Researcher in charge must have completed the research ethics e-learning course "the Course for Keio researchers" provided by the Association for the Promotion of Research Integrity. The course is accessible from keio.jp. Research members whose affiliated institution is other than Keio University must have completed the aforementioned course or equivalent in their own institution. For Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects, all research members must have completed the aforementioned course within one year prior to the anticipated review date by SFC Research Ethics Committee.
  2. Submission of a valid copy of the aforementioned Course Completion Report is required.
  3. Create an Outline of Revisions (no designated format).
  4. Indicate revisions to the original Application Form in red or by underlining.
  5. Convert all documents to be submitted to PDF, and send as an email attachment to SFC General Affairs Office at somu@sfc.keio.ac.jp.
  6. Combine all application documents into a single PDF in the order of Outline of Revisions, Application Form, Research Description Form, Consent Form, and Supplementary Materials. If there are a large number of supplementary materials, add a table of contents as the first page of the PDF document.
  7. Your signature and/or seal are not necessary. Type research project leader's name after you and the leader checked "Confirm the following".
  8. As designated in Paragraph 2, Article 5 of the Internal Regulations, students cannot be an applicant. If the sender of the application email is an undergraduate or graduate student, he/she needs to ask his/her Academic Advisor (the applicant) to go through his/her application documents well in advance, and need to get his/her approval for application. The sender is also required to include the Academic Advisor (the applicant) in the cc of the email.
  9. In the event a document needs to be replaced, resubmit a PDF containing the entire set of documents.