REA – Terms And Conditions
Terms And Conditions
All users (REAs and researchers) must accept these terms and conditions as a requirement and condition of using the Platform. Failure to adhere to any provision of this document is grounds for termination of an individual’s access without refund or recompense. Questions about these terms and conditions and/or the warranties should be directed to [email protected]. Allegations of any breaches or disputes should also be directed to [email protected].
DEFINITIONS
In these Terms and Conditions, all other grammatical forms of defined terms have a corresponding meaning and:
Adviser means the User engaged to provide advice in relation to the Adviser Service.
Adviser Service means the service provided by the Adviser to the Researcher under clause 21.
Intellectual Property Rights means all intellectual property rights, including patents, copyright, rights in circuit layouts, registered and unregistered designs, moral rights, registered and unregistered trademarks, service marks, trade names and any right to have confidential information kept confidential (together with any application or right to apply for registration of any such rights).
ISP means internet service provider.
ISP Services means internet service and/or access provider services.
Operator means the party responsible for the Site.
Researcher means the User requesting Services be provided through the Site.
Service means the services the Operator provides via the Site, enabling Researchers to search for, enter into and manage transactions with Advisers in relation to research ethics, research design and methods and the responsible conduct of research.
Site means the Research Ethics Adviser Platform pages located on https://ahrecs.com/.
User means any person who accesses or uses the Site, including a Researcher or Adviser.
User Account means an account registered by a User on the Site under section 6.
The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code) and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, where applicable, requires any person conducting research to obtain ethical clearance prior to commencing any project. The Code requires research institutions to provide among other things, an appropriate research governance framework, training for research staff and effective mentoring and supervision of researchers and research trainees. This includes by advising on research ethics, research design and methods and the responsible conducts of research.
The Site and the Service is not connected or affiliated with any educational institution.
The Site is an online platform that enables Researchers to search for, enter into and manage transactions with Advisers in relation to research ethics, research design and methods and the responsible conduct of research. The Site allows Researchers to access assistance from Researchers that is in addition to and not a substitute for services which can be obtained through research institutions (including via the research ethics committees, or equivalent bodies, at such institutions).
Any advice provided by an Adviser to the Researcher, arranged through use of the Site, is an opinion and does not constitute research ethics review under the Code, National Statement or related legislation or guidelines.
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions alters a User’s obligations (if any) under the Code, the National Statement, the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes or any other legislation, guidelines or standards applicable to research or a User’s role at any research institution.
Registration of a User Account
An individual who want to nominate to be a Research Ethics Adviser on the REAP must complete and submit a nomination. The nomination will be considered by the Operator to evaluate whether the individual possesses the relevant expertise to serve as an adviser.
An individual who wishes to seek advice from an adviser will need to set up a researcher account.
Unfortunately currently REAP is not accepting registrations from researchers who conduct their work in the United States of America jurisdiction.
Relationship between Researcher and Adviser
The Operator does not take any responsibility for or accept liability in relation to the obligations of any User including in relation to:
- the provision of the Adviser Service which is provided by the Adviser to the Researcher;
- the payment for the Adviser Service which is made by the Researcher to the Adviser;
- Intellectual Property or Confidential Information.
Termination
Termination. Where the Operator considers in its sole opinion that a User has breached any provision of these Terms and Conditions, and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies, the Operator may by written notice immediately terminate these Terms and Conditions or the provision of any Services without any liability to the Operator. This will include termination of the User Account.
Termination without cause. The Operator may terminate a User’s access to and use of the Service (including their User Account) without cause by giving the User 14 days’ prior written notice. A User may close their User Account at any time via the ‘Profile’ section of the Site.
Consequence of termination. Each User acknowledges and agrees that, on termination of these Terms and Conditions for any reason, or should they close their User Account. No fees paid will be refundable in the event of a termination, whether with or without cause.
Dispute Resolution
Users should direct allegations of any breaches or disputes to the Operator.
If the Operator is unable to resolve the matter, any dispute or difference whatsoever arising out of or in connection with this agreement shall be submitted to an expert in accordance with, and subject to, the Resolution Institute Expert Determination Rules.
Unless the parties agree upon an Expert, either party may request a nomination from the Chair of Resolution Institute.
Code of Conduct/Conflict of Interest
If an Adviser is employed by, or has a role with, a research institution then, before providing the Service, the Adviser warrants that they are permitted to do so under the policies of that research institution.
Advisers must not provide advice with regards to a project where they have a conflict of interest (regardless of whether that conflict might be perceived or actual). For example:
- an Adviser must not provide advice with regard to a project where they might be involved in the research ethics review of that project or otherwise involved in the governance or conduct of that project.
- an Adviser must not agree to provide advice to a Researcher if they were already obliged to provide such assistance in accordance with the Code or the policies of the Adviser’s employer.
Users must act in accordance with [our Code of Conduct] when using this platform.
Users must not use racist, sexist or otherwise derogatory language in their communications with other Users. Users are urged to approach communications in a collegiate, courteous and constructive manner.
Users must not bring the Service or Site into disrepute, including without limitation by engaging in any conduct contrary to the Code.
Intellectual Property
Advisers acknowledge that any Intellectual Property obtained from a Researcher, including indirectly in the course of the Operator providing the Service, remains the property of the Researcher. Advisers are not authorised to use the Intellectual Property except as necessary to provide the Adviser Service.
Scope of Adviser Service provided by Advisers
Researchers can choose to engage Advisers for:
- Basic Advice being a paragraph of text reflecting on what kind of shape the project described by the submitted research design is in and some dot points of the most significant ethical challenges and difficulties. The fee for Basic Advice is $50 (inclusive of the Service and Adviser Service).
- Full Advice including reflection on all of the significant ethical challenges and difficulties related to the submitted research design. Full Advice may include suggested refinements or other changes to the design. The Adviser should direct the Researcher to relevant academic literature or other resources. The Adviser might also usefully comment upon the matters likely to come up during research ethics review. The fee for Full Advice is $500 (inclusive of the Service and Adviser Service).
The Operator does not provide the Adviser Service to the Researcher. The Operator does not take any responsibility for or accept liability in relation to the Adviser Service, which is provided by the Adviser to the Researcher.
Payment terms
Users are responsible for payment and reporting of any taxes, duties and fees that are required for the monies they receive from the platform for the provision of the Service. Users are encouraged to seek independent financial advice with regard to their obligations.
Researchers must pay the fee for the Service and Advisor Service by EFT to Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services – the current operator of this platform. – BSB 082-980 Account number: 919004269 Account name: Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services Pty Ltd (as amended from time to time).
The Operator will deduct a flat 20% Operator overhead from all payments for provision of the Service. The balance will be paid by EFT to the Adviser for the Adviser Service within 2 business days of the receipt of the payment from the Researcher. An email confirming the transfer will be sent to the Adviser.
An Adviser must not solicit or otherwise seek payments outside of this Site or seek engagement from a Researcher for work that is referred by this Site.
A Researcher must not offer to engage or pay an Adviser outside of this Site for work that is submitted to the Site.
If the Operator considers the User has failed to observe the Terms and Conditions it may immediately suspend the User Account while it considers whether termination is warranted.
Warranties, indemnity & insurance
Indemnity. Each User indemnifies the Operator (and all of the Operator’s subsidiaries, employees, officers and agents), and must keep them indemnified, against all loss, actions, proceedings, cost and expenses (including legal fees), claims and damages arising from any claim by a third party arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with the User’s access to or use of the Services.
Consumer guarantees. To the extent permitted by law, any conditions, warranties, guarantees, rights, remedies, liabilities and other terms implied or conferred by statute, custom or the general law that impose any liability or obligation on the Operator are excluded under these Terms and Conditions. However, if a supply under these Terms and Conditions is a supply of goods or services to a consumer within the meaning of the Australian Consumer Law (contained in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) as given effect under Part XI of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), as amended or replaced from time to time), nothing contained in these Terms and Conditions excludes, restricts or modifies the application of any provision, the exercise of any right or remedy, or the imposition of any liability under the Australian Consumer Law; provided that, to the extent the Australian Consumer Law permits the Operator to limit its liability, then the Operator’s liability is limited to:
- in the case of services, the cost of supplying the services again or payment of the cost of having the services supplied again; and
- in the case of software or other goods, the cost of replacing the goods, supplying equivalent goods or having the goods repaired, or payment of the cost of replacing the goods, supplying equivalent goods or having the goods repaired.
Exclusion of liability. Subject to clause 28, the Operator excludes liability for all direct, indirect or consequential liabilities, losses, damages, costs and expenses, whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise suffered or incurred by any person –
(a) in connection with or in any way relating to the Site or the Service, including:
- in connection with any disruption to or unavailability or failure of the Site or Service or interference with or damage to computer systems or other electronic devices;
- in connection with errors, omissions or inaccuracies contained in any information published on the Site or supplied by the Operator to the User via email or otherwise;
- as a result of any fraudulent use, misuse or misappropriation of a User Account;
- as a result of any act committed by another person in connection with User’s use of the Site or the Services;
- any advice provided by an Adviser; or
- performance of the Adviser Service by the Adviser;
(b) arising from any circumstance beyond the Operator’s control; or
(c) otherwise under or in connection with these Terms and Conditions.
The Operator does not offer any insurance or protection to any User of the Service.
Each User acknowledges that the Operator does not indemnify Advisers for their provision of advice to Researchers.
Each User acknowledges that the Operator and the Adviser do not warrant the suitability of any research submitted to an Adviser for review as suitable for approval under the Code or any related legislation or institutional guidelines.
The Operator does not guarantee the uninterrupted operation of this Service.
The Operator will make every effort to keep the Site free of computer viruses and malicious software but the Operator provides no warranties that the Site is free of viruses and malicious software.
Each User is solely responsible for securing their password. The Operator will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from unauthorised access of a User Account resulting from the User’s failure to secure their password.
Each Adviser acknowledges the receipt of a payment by EFT is dependent on a number of factors, such as interruptions to the online services of the relevant financial institutions. Consequently no warranty is provided as to the time between the transfer of payment by the Operator and the Adviser’s receipt of the payment.
Privacy & confidentiality
Confidential information. Neither Researchers nor Advisers may disclose to any third party, without the prior written consent of the other party, any confidential information received from the other party for the purposes of providing or receiving the Services. This restriction does not apply to information which is or becomes generally available to the public (other than as a result of a breach of an obligation under this section), is independently developed by the recipient, or is required by law to be disclosed.
Privacy policy. Our privacy policy relating to information collected by the Operator may be accessed by following the link labelled ‘Privacy Policy’ on the right side of the site and forms part of these Terms and Conditions.
Confidentiality of User information. The Operator will maintain the confidentiality of Users of the Service and the Site will not share the name/email address of Users with third parties. Aggregate or otherwise de-identified information about the operation of the Site (including the provision of advice to Researchers) might be used to-
- improve the operation and functionality of the Service or Site;
- prepare a business case for seeking funding for the development of the full Service;
- advertise or otherwise promote this Site;
- discuss this Service in academic outputs.
GENERAL
Assignment. Users may not assign their rights under these Terms and Conditions, or attempt or purport to do so, without the Operator’s prior written consent (which may be given or withheld in the Operator’s absolute discretion).
Force majeure. No party will be liable to the any other party for any failure to fulfil, or delay in fulfilling, its obligations caused by circumstances outside of its reasonable control (including illness of the Operator’s consultants). However, this paragraph does not apply to any of the User’s obligations to pay money for Services performed.
Governing law. These Terms and Conditions are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Queensland, Australia, and all parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State. The parties agree not to challenge the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland to deal with any matter arising under the Terms and Conditions.
Severability. If any provision, or part of a provision, of these Terms and Conditions is found to be illegal or unenforceable it will be severed from the agreement, and the remainder of these Terms and Conditions will be construed as if that provision or part did not form part of these Terms and Conditions. The previous sentence will not apply if the provision or part to be severed constitutes a material and fundamental element of the agreement between the parties.
Variation. The Operator reserves the right to revise and amend the Terms and Conditions at its discretion, as follows:
- if the Operator considers that the change is likely to benefit a User or have a neutral or minor detrimental impact on a User, the Operator may make any changes immediately without notifying the User except by publishing the amended Terms and Conditions (as applicable) on the Site;
- if the Operator considers that the change is likely to have a significant detrimental impact on a User, the Operator will make the change after it has notified the User of the change (solely by using the email address provided by the User) and will display a notice on the Site describing the change. A User’s continued use of the Site after an amendment will mean that the User agrees to that amendment. Users must stop using the Site if they do not agree to an amendment.
Entire agreement. These Terms and Conditions are the entire agreement between the parties on its subject matter and supersede any previous arrangements, agreements, representations, understandings or statements (whether verbally, in writing or in another format).