Finding an Approval Letter

Once your REB application is approved, you receive an approval clearance notification from the Ethics Office. You can find this approval clearance at any time in the form’s History tab.

  1. From your Work Area Projects List, locate the Project and click on the project title to open the Project Tree
  2. From the project tree, select the form for which you wish to view the approval letter
  3. Expand the History tab
  4. Locate the notification which indicates approval and click on the Download button 

Note: If you have a long history, you can search for “Approved” in the Search History bar 

You can also find this approval clearance from the Notifications tile by searching for the Project Title and clicking on the Paperclip (attachment) icon in the notification. See the Basic Navigation - Notifications section for more information. 

Creating Folders

EthOS allows you to create folders to organize your projects. For example, you can create folders for different types of projects, or projects that occur within a certain timeframe. 

When you first log in to EthOS, you will not have any project folders. 

To create a new folder: 

  1. Click on the Create Folder tile
  2. Type in a Folder Title
  3. Click on the Create button
    • Note: When you create your first folder, EthOS will create this new folder and an All Projects folder. This ensures that you can always see the complete list of your projects in addition to your sub-organized content. 

Further, once created, a folder tile cannot be moved around on your Work Area. Folders will be displayed in order of creation from left to right. If you require your folders to appear in a certain sequence, consider this when determining your folder nomenclature. See Renaming Folders (below) if you need to change a folder name.  

Renaming Folders

To rename a folder, you must be in the folder you wish to rename.

  1. Click on the folder you wish to rename
  2. Click on the Rename Folder tile 
  3. Enter the new name and click on the Rename button in the Rename Folder pop-up window

EthOS displays a green banner message indicating the successful change of folder name. 

Adding Projects to Folders

Easily add projects to folders or reorganize projects into different folders. 

  1. Select the project from your Work Area Projects list
  2. Drag the project into the folder tile

You can also add or reorganize projects to different folders by using the Move Project tile in the Actions pane.  

  1. Click on the Move Project tile
  2. Select the Project and Destination folder
  3. Click on the Move button

Duplicating Projects

You can duplicate a project in EthOS if you wish to leverage an existing application as the basis for another one. You can duplicate an entire project or duplicate only certain subforms. 

  1. From your Work Area, click on the Duplicate Project tile
  2. Select the project to be duplicated from the dropdown menu
  3. Enter a new title and indicate whether you wish to also duplicate the project’s subforms
    • Note: you will need to enter a unique title (you cannot reuse the current title)
  4. Click on the Duplicate button

Duplicating Only Subforms

If you wish to duplicate only one subform, locate the project in your Work Area Projects list:

  1. Click on the subform link in the Project Tree
  2. In the Actions Pane, click on the Duplicate Form tile
  3. Select the number of duplications needed
  4. Click on the Duplicate button

Transfer Ownership of a Project

Projects can be transferred to other EthOS users as needed. In these cases, ownership of the project, including all subforms, is relinquished from the current owner and transferred to another EthOS user. A transfer removes the project from your project list, and the new owner receives the transferred project in their list. An example use case is when the original form owner is leaving the project and another research member on the team is taking over the study. 

Note: the individual to whom you transfer the project must be eligible to be a Principal Investigator and accept full responsibility for the project.  

To initiate a transfer: 

  1. Click on the Transfer Project tile
  2. Enter the email address of the new owner (who must have an active account in EthOS)
  3. Find the Project you wish to transfer or select from the list
  4. Click on the Transfer button
  5. A transfer request email notification is sent to the new recipient. The new recipient sees the Transfer request appear in their Work Area Transfers tile. Click on the Transfer tile and click View Project.
  6. When the project opens, the Actions Pane provides the option to Accept or Reject the transfer.
  7. Once accepted, the transferred project appears in the new owner's Projects list with a status of Transfer Accepted, and the Transfers tile number is reduced by one (in this case, to zero).

Cancel a Pending Transfer

To cancel a transfer before it has been accepted:  

  1. From your Work Area, open your Transfers Tile

    • Note: if your Transfers tile has a green 0, it just means that none of your transferred projects have been accepted yet
    • Review the status to ensure that it does not say Accepted (if so, the transfer cannot be cancelled; it would need to be transferred back to you instead)
    • Click View Project 

  2. From the opened project, navigate to the top of the Project Tree hierarchy and click once on the Project Title (not the Main REB Application Form line)

    • Open the Transfers tab
    • Click the Cancel button

  3. A green banner message confirms that the transfer was cancelled.

Deleting Unsubmitted Projects

Projects can be deleted from EthOS only if they have not yet been submitted

  1. From the Actions Pane, click on the Delete Project tile
  2. Select the project you would like to delete
  3. Click on the Delete button
  4. Confirm Yes

Sharing Forms

You can share an EthOS form with anyone at any time – as long as they have an active EthOS account.  

Consult the Sharing Forms training video for how to assign specific permissions or role-based access.

Changing Previously Assigned Permissions

Consult the Changing Previously Assigned Permissions training video for a summary on how to edit the access for existing collaborators. 

Principal Investigator Signature

Principal Investigators are required to sign all EthOS applications. Signature requests are sent by email notification and will also appear in your EthOS Signatures tile.

Review the application and any attached documents. If something needs to change, click on the Reject icon and return it to the form owner to make any required changes. Otherwise, click on the Sign icon at which point the application will be automatically submitted.

For more information, consult the Principal Investigator Signature step training video.