How to submit your ethics application
Queen’s University uses two application platforms:
Both platforms differ significantly in their roles and functions at Queen’s University.
| About TRAQ | About CTO |
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TRAQ is an internally focused research management system, providing a unified platform for all Queen’s research proposal submissions to the research ethics boards. tracking and storing data regarding the project. This includes ethics review, financial details, and project outcomes. Submissions to either the General Research Ethics Board (GREB) or Health Sciences Research Ethics Board (HSREB) can be submitted via TRAQ.
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CTO works on a broader scale, focusing on streamlining the approval process of clinical trials across the province. Unlike TRAQ however, CTO is not limited to a sole institution but works to improve and enhance the quality of the research environment across Ontario. Only submissions to Health Sciences Research Ethics Board (HSREB) can be submitted via CTO.
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If no TRAQ account:
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If you are requesting a Queen's Faculty, Staff, or Student account and have never had a TRAQ account before, please use our account request form. If you have had an account before (as a student or returning employee) please contact our helpdesk and request a reactivation of your account.
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If you are an External Researcher / Reviewer (Community Member) and have never had a TRAQ account, you must register for an account. Follow these steps:
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Complete the account request form.
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A member of our TRAQ support team will create your account within two business days. We will contact you when your account is created. If your request is urgent, please contact our helpdesk and complete a ticket to notify us of your urgent request.
If no CTO account:
Since Queen’s University and its Affiliated Hospitals are CTO-qualified sites, you can register for your own account to use CTO Stream.
Clinical Trials Ontario must screen all CTO accounts before they can be accessed. You will receive an email once this screening process is complete.
According to Ethics SOP 801, all researchers, students, staff, and faculty submitting an ethics application are required to complete the TCPS 2: CORE-2022 (Course on Research Ethics) prior to commencing research.
Students must upload a copy of their supervisor’s letter that contains:
- the title of the study
- the date of the letter/email
- the supervisor signature (written or electronic)
Ensure the supervisor is added as a supervisor in the Project Team Info tab of the TRAQ application.
Researchers must determine whether they are submitting to the Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board (HSREB) or the General Research Ethics Board (GREB)
If your study includes one or more of the elements from the list below, you must obtain a review from the HSREB. If no items from this list apply to your study, you must obtain a review from the GREB.
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Participants from any of the affiliated teaching hospitals, or in other health care clinics, or medical settings, at any point during the research.
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Conducting research or recruiting participants from any of the affiliated teaching hospitals (Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KGH and HDH Sites), Kingston General Health Research Institute (KGHRI), Hotel Dieu Hospital Research Institute (HDHRI), Providence Care Centre (PCC), and Ongwanada) or in other healthcare, clinic, or medical settings.
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Pharmaceutical device, drug, or natural product(s) clinical trials.
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Medical or physical interventions, treatments, therapies, or surgeries.
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New medical techniques or technologies, deviations from standard of care.
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Using human biological material from living or deceased participants; physical exertion (beyond walking/normal daily activities).
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Medical or dental patients, doctors, nurses, dentists, or any other health care professionals, and rehabilitation therapy.
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Accessing health or medical records.
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Using X-rays, CT scans, PET scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, EKGs, or other medical tests or scans.
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Administering or ingesting any substance.
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Biobanks and large databases.
Full board reviews
For studies involving more-than-minimal-risk research (i.e., high-risk studies based on intervention type and vulnerability of the participant group) must be reviewed at a full board meeting. Full board meetings generally occur once per month and ethics applications are due 3 weeks in advance of the monthly meeting.
Meeting dates and submission deadlines are posted on the applicable research ethics board pages:
- Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board
- General Research Ethics Board
Delegated reviews
For studies involving minimal risk research (i.e., low-risk studies based on intervention type and vulnerability of the participant group) are reviewed on an ongoing basis. There is no submission deadline (i.e., applications can be submitted at any time).
For all applications, we recommend exploring the ethics support toolbox, where you can find application checklists, guidelines, and templates.
To create your application, login to your applicable system:
In TRAQ:
- Sign On to TRAQ.
- Click ‘Apply New’ and select the appropriate application form under the board you have determined to apply (see Step 5 above to determine which board to apply to.)
For assistance with your TRAQ application, view the HSREB Training or GREB Training pages.
In CTO:
- Visit the CTO Stream page and log in to your account.
- Create a new submission.
- Note: Only applications that will be submitted to HSREB may be submitted via CTO.
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Confirm that information about recruitment and consent etc have been included in the ethics application. (see general ethics guidelines and templates for more information.)
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Review the consent form, ensure it meets the basic requirements.
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Ensure all documents references in the application have been attached to the TRAQ/CTO file in "attachments" or "documents" tab.
Congratulations! You can now submit your application to TRAQ or CTO!
Your application will be reviewed by the Research Ethics Team. The team will contact you if clarifications or modifications are required for your application.
Post-approval activity
Post approval submissions represent subsequent submissions to the file put forth after initial approval has been granted, and may include:
- requests for amendments to the original plan
- continuation or renewal of projects
- reporting unexpected occurrences (i.e. SAEs, AEs)
- protocol deviations
- privacy breaches
- study closures
This allows the Research Ethics Boards to monitor ongoing research and ensure adherence to ethical guidelines.
Need assistance?
Contact our team
Queen's Research Ethics team is here to provide guidance and support so you can move your research forward with confidence.
Ethics toolbox
This archive of resources provides guidelines, checklists, and templates for ethics applications and events reporting.
Drop-in sessions
Join the research ethics team at our weekly virtual drop-in sessions and get your questions answered.