ETHICS
Approval to conduct the study was granted by the Institutional Review Board of Adler University in Chicago (US) (Protocol number 20-078 for Phase 1, 21-025 for Phase 2).
Participating in this study is minimal risk with no potential adverse impact on the participants’ well-being across physical, psychological, or emotional state.
The research team has implemented specific protocols for protection:
A. The research team opted not to ask for specific names of institutions/universities.
B. Additionally, the research team will utilise a graduate research assistant who is not associated with the project to deidentify submissions, i.e., separating submitted emails for future interviews from responses, and cleaning responses of any identifying information.
To further ensure confidentiality to the extent permitted by law, the following measures will also be taken:
Any potential identifying information contained within the responses will be de-identified prior to analysis.
Any subsequent reports, i.e., presentations or publications, will present the data in aggregate form, except when reproducing direct quotations from the open-ended surveys.
In those incidences, participants will be referred to “participant” or “respondent” or “faculty” (etc.) and words such as “partner,” “department,” or “university” (etc.) will be used in place of identifying information.
Discretion will be used in selecting exemplars and direct quotes to use in reporting the results. When specific quotes are used in future publications and presentations, information will be presented in a way that protects the identity of participants.
All electronic versions of informed consent and surveys will be kept secure for a period of 7 years, in accordance with APA guidelines for the retention of data. After this time period, electronic data will be deleted, and any identifying information will be destroyed.
Only de-identified responses will be maintained for any future opportunities for further analysis and dissemination.