Any research undertaken by Institute of Archaeology staff or students should be designed and conducted in an ethical way and be compliant with existing Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê policy and relevant legislation.
Issues to consider include how your research data is funded, sourced, analysed and disseminated.
Institute policies and guidelines
The Institute of Archaeology takes research ethics very seriously and has produced the following guidelines for Institute staff and students to adhere to:
- Policy regarding the illicit trade in antiquities
- Ethical guidelines for research
- Applying for ethical clearance for human participant research
Any enquiries may be directed to the Chair of the Institute's Ethics Committee (Julia Shaw) at IoA.ethics@ucl.ac.uk
Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê policies and guidelines
- Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Cultural Property Policy
This states that anyone bringing cultural property onto Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê premises must register this material with college. This includes all incoming archaeological material. The Institute offers support for this, please enquire for further details. - Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Cultural Property Policy Guide
- Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Statement on Research Integrity
The legal position
- If your research involves human participants you must obtain clearance from the or in order to be covered by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê public liability insurance, unless your research has been declared exempt from such approval by a member of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Research Ethics Committee or the Institute of Archaeology's Ethics Committee. Students should first read the Ethical guidelines for human participant research section of this website.
- Your research must be compliant with (General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018).
- Work involving human remains must be compliant with the
- A Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) will be needed if you work in controlled or regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults.
- Appropriate Risk Assessments may need to be submitted. This is done via the .
- If you conduct your research outside Britain, or your work involves international collaborators, then you must also follow any relevant international guidelines or laws for the countries in which you operate.
Ethics advice
- Anyone who wishes further advice on ethical matters should contact the Chair of the Institute's Ethics Committee (Julia Shaw) at IoA.ethics@ucl.ac.uk