The research ethics basis for the iPSYCH research project is the overall approval of the project first granted to the project by the Research Ethics Committees for the Central Denmark Region in 2012.

This is the conclusion of the Research Ethics Committees for the Central Denmark Region after having dealt with a number of questions from DR (the Danish Broadcasting Corporation), which in several television broadcasts and in articles on the DR website has raised criticism about the iPSYCH project.

Among other things, it has been argued that a specific 2016 study on voter turnout among people with mental disorders and developmental disorders is allegedly outside the purpose that was approved in 2012.

However, the committees conclude that "the sub-project on voter turnout is within the approved protocol".

DR's coverage has also criticized the iPSYCH project for not setting up an ethics advisory group as originally planned.

In its assessment, the committees emphasise that the planned ethics advisory group "should work on future ethical issues that research results from the project could entail." (committee’s italics). Thus, the advisory group could not be considered as "the ethical prerequisite for approving the project," the committees state.

Furthermore, the committees acknowledge that iPSYCH has instead addressed the ethical implications, among other things by entering into collaborations and discussions on these issues in both Danish and international contexts.

However, the committees do criticize the iPSYCH project for failing to notify and seek approval for this change in the protocol, which iPSYCH also regretted in its consultation response prior to the committees' deliberations.

The committees will not take any further action in the matter, as it also stresses that "... had the changes been notified to the committees in due time, they would most likely have been approved".

The Research Ethics Committees for the Central Denmark Region state that iPSYCH is an important project that has contributed to a greater understanding of mental illness.