One of the most overlooked yet most severely penalised gaps in submission is ethics committee approval. If you submit a study that requires approval without the document, no matter how good the paper is, it usually gets a straight desk reject — or worse, is retracted after publication. This guide explains, in plain terms, what ethics approval is, which studies need it, and when you must obtain it.
What is ethics committee approval?
Ethics committee approval (an ethics approval certificate) is a formal permission confirming that a study is designed to protect participants' rights, privacy and safety. For research involving humans, animals or personal data, it's obtained from the relevant institution's (university's) ethics committee before any research data is collected.
Which studies require it?
Roughly, if your data comes from a human or a living being, you need approval. The main study types that require it:
- Collecting data from participants — any qualitative or quantitative research using techniques like surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation or experiments.
- Using humans or animals — studies involving humans/animals (including their material and data) for scientific purposes.
- Clinical research — studies conducted on humans.
- Retrospective studies — research based on past records (especially health data), under data-protection law.
The most common mistake: "Mine is retrospective, so I don't need it"
This is the field's most expensive misconception. Being retrospective does not grant an exemption. Health data is special-category personal data under the personal data protection law (KVKK); accordingly, TR Dizin criteria include retrospective studies in the list requiring ethics approval. Using existing files or records does not remove the requirement.
The TR Dizin rule and declaring it in the paper
TR Dizin requires the ethics approval process from 2020 onward: approval is mandatory for papers whose research data belongs to 2020 or later (studies conducted with pre-2020 data fall outside this). In your paper, you must also:
- Clearly state whether ethics approval was required, and
- If required, state which institution granted it, on what date, and with which decision/reference number.
This declaration is a standard expectation not only of TR Dizin but of international journals too; most ask for conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki and an ethics approval number. Within TR Dizin's general criteria, this is one of the most strictly enforced items.
When should you get it? Answer: at the very start
There's only one correct time for ethics approval: before you start collecting data. The process can't be completed later; approval obtained after data collection is treated as invalid by most journals and can result in rejection or retraction. So the ethics application should be not an "extra" to the research plan but its first step.
Secure it before submission
Ethics approval is one of the non-negotiable items on your pre-submission checklist. Submitting your paper to the right journal with complete documentation both lowers desk-reject risk and speeds up the review. Peerfect's free journal recommendation engine puts journals matching your paper's scope in front of you; you, in turn, secure the most fragile part of submission by completing mandatory documents like ethics approval up front.
In short: ethics approval isn't a formality — it's the foundation of your research's validity. If your data comes from a human or a living being, you need approval even for a retrospective study; obtain it before collecting data and declare it in your paper with the institution, date and decision number. This single step done right at the start removes a big risk of rejection or retraction at the end.
Sources: TR Dizin Ethics Approval Certificate Explanation — MEB Journal, Ethics Committee Approval — Bingöl University FEAS Journal, Is Ethics Approval Required? Decision Guide — Model İstatistik. Scope and application may vary by institutional directive and the journal's author guidelines; the binding sources are the TR Dizin criteria and your institution's ethics committee.