The ethics application

Purpose – This poem aims to reflect on the process of preparing a successful ethics application and likens it to facing a giant. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a poem reflecting on factors that hinder and aid a successful ethics application and emotions that applicants may experience during the process. Findings – Achieving a successful ethics application requires attention to detail, knowledge of the process and persistence. Accountability falls heavily on the applicant while the committee wants to minimise risk for the university. One can experience a range of emotions during the application process. Research limitations/implications – While the findings reflect the author's experience they are nevertheless often privately discussed amongst academics. Originality/value – The paper brings to light issues that ethics applicants experience that are seldom publicly discussed.