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Research and consultancy

In the most recent national assessment of research excellence (REF2021), 100% of our research impact is rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’ and 73% of our research outputs are rated as ‘World Leading’ or ‘Internationally Excellent’.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the department’s research, please contact Professor Richard Parrish.

Our research areas

Research ethics and governance

Research ethics are principles about how researchers and research organisations ought to conduct themselves when doing research. There are codes of ethical conduct at both University and disciplinary level. The Edge Hill University Research Ethics Policy and the Code of Practice for the Conduct of Research are the principal documents for guiding researchers in the ethical conduct of research.

In addition, there are also discipline specific codes of conduct for ethical research, notably for criminology and policing research the British Society of Criminology Statement of Ethics and for legal research the Socio-Legal Studies Association Statement of Principles of Ethical Research Practice.

The Departmental Research Ethics Committee (DREC) is established to operate alongside the ethical procedures established at Faculty and at university levels. Ethical Approval forms are submitted to the Chair of the DREC, and members of the DREC will scrutinise applications electronically to reduce delays and give feedback. The Committee will either give permission for the research to begin or make recommendations for amendments. In some cases, applications will be forwarded to the Faculty Research Ethics Committee for scrutiny. Researchers cannot begin research until formal ethical approval has been granted.

Department of Law & Criminology staff and students requiring advice about research ethics can contact the Chair of the Departmental Research Ethics Committee Professor Richard Parrish for advice and guidance.