Cartoon by Don Mayne www.researchcartoons.com
Systems rarely work well under pressure. When you consider the crippling and constant avalanche of work, the demands in terms of policy/law/governance, researcher and institutional demands for speed and rigour, and the desire to do things well, it should be no surprise to learn that serving on a research ethics committee is sometimes described as a remorseless pressure cooker. It also shouldn’t be a surprise if matters fall short of best practice. If your institution/committee/research community is having those kinds of problems AHRECS can help with some constructive ideas.