Useful Links:
Policies & Procedures
- Approval of Research
- Closure or Withdrawal of Research
- Continuing Review
- Deception in Research
- Definitions
- Departmental Review Boards
- Dietary Supplements
- Exempt Review of Research
- Expedited Review of Research
- Full Review of Research
- General Application Procedures
- Incentives in Research
- Informed Consent, Parental Permission and Child Assent
- International Research
- IRB Administration
- IRB Review Process
- Mandatory Reporting
- Mandatory Training
- Misconduct
- Non-English Speaking Participants
- Oral History
- Overview
- Prisoner Research
- Records Retention
- Recruitment of Participants
- Reproductive Risk in Clinical Research
- Responsibilities of Investigators and Sponsors
- Revisions to Approved Research
- Separation of Principal Investigators
- Sponsorship
- Student Research
- Submission of Applications
- Suspension or Termination
- University Policy on Human Research
- Whistleblower Policy
General Application Procedures
No research may begin, including recruiting subjects or initiating the informed consent process, until Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Exempt Review Committee (ERC) approval has been granted.
All applications to the IRB or ERC are to be submitted online via IRBNet at www.irbnet.org. For detailed instructions on how to submit, please see our Forms and Instructions web page. Please note that there are three boards in the system for the Institutional Review Board (full or expedited applications), the Exempt Review Committee (for exempt applications) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (for animal applications). Researchers are asked to submit to the correct board so that review will not be delayed.
To help determine the type of review required, researchers should first consult the Office for Human Research Protections' (OHRP) decision charts. If a researcher continues to have difficulty in selecting the appropriate level of review, s/he should consult with the IRB Office.
Federal regulations require additional protections for pregnant women/fetuses, prisoners and children under various subparts of 45 CFR 46. Please see subparts B, C and D for detailed information.