The experience of a Brazilian public university research ethics committee

Abstract

This paper discusses about the experience of the Research Ethics Committee of a state public university in Brazil, briefly describing its operation and results for five years of work. We raised all the drafts submitted to the committee between January 2006 and December 2010 and enrolled 633 drafts of several courses, ranging from undergraduate research, theses, and dissertations works. The aspects analyzed were identified from the cover sheet of preliminary planning, the views expressed by the committee and the research protocol. Most drafts analyzed was classified as pending, the main reasons were mistakes in the consent terms. By comparing the amount of approvals of preliminary examination by the CEP over the years covered by this study, it was revealed that the committee is acting as a training and educational forum for research practice.