About the Tutorial for the TCPS : : What is the TCPS? : : Who must apply the TCPS? : : What is the purpose of the Tutorial for the TCPS? : : Who should do the Tutorial? : : What does the Tutorial cover? : : How is each section organized? : : How long will the Tutorial take?

The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) describes principles, standards and procedures for governing research involving human subjects. The TCPS is an evolving document and it will be updated regularly. Sections may be revised or added.

The TCPS applies to all research involving humans that is conducted within or by members of research institutions administering funds awarded by any of the three federal research agencies (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council). Other organizations have also adopted the TCPS.

The Tutorial for the TCPS helps to educate the research community about the TCPS. It also facilitates the use, interpretation and implementation of the TCPS.

• researchers
• Research Ethics Board (REB) members and administrators
• research administrators
• students who may undertake research involving humans
• actual or potential research subjects
• research participants
• members of the general public
• policy analysts

The Tutorial covers the Goals of the Policy and the Context of an Ethics Framework (which you will find under the heading "Introducing the TCPS); Section 1: Ethics Review; Section 2: Free and Informed Consent; Section 3: Privacy and Confidentiality; Section 4: Conflict of Interest; and Section 5: Inclusion in Research.

The Tutorial does not include the specific issues in the following sections of the TCPS: Section 6: Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples; Section 7: Clinical Trials; Section 8: Human Genetic Research; Section 9: Research Involving Gametes, Embryos, or Foetuses; Section 10: Human Tissue. These sections deal with specific issues that are not included at this time.

The Tutorial has a Glossary that defines terms in the Tutorial and in the TCPS. Users are also encouraged to consult the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics' (PRE) Links page that contains a bibliography and web sites for national and international codes of ethics and other relevant Canadian documents and legislation.

Each section:

• begins with a Section Overview. You will find a section summary and section objectives.
• covers a number of topics. All topics include a summary of key points from the TCPS and links to relevant parts of the TCPS.
• has four case studies. The same case studies appear in each section of the Tutorial but questions and the commentary are specific to each section.
• ends with a Progress Check.

The Tutorial takes approximately two hours to complete. It may take more than two hours if you decide to follow all the links and read all four case studies. You may take the entire Tutorial in one session, or you may complete it in a number of sessions.