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Institutional Review Board

Find detailed research guidelines for Monmouth College students, faculty, and staff.

Students have a variety of research opportunities as undergraduate students at Monmouth.
The Institutional Review Board supports research involving human subjects to ensure students, faculty and others abide by ethical and responsible guidelines.
Have questions about your research? We can help.

Research conducted by Monmouth College affiliates using human participants is overseen by Monmouth College’s IRB. The main purpose of the IRB process is to protect the rights and welfare of the individuals who voluntarily participate as subjects in research projects.

IRB approval must be obtained before research can begin. The Monmouth College IRB is not intended to be an impediment to research; it seeks to work with researchers to develop research protocols that will receive approval. Monmouth College IRB policies and procedures are based on federal guidelines.

They also closely resemble the policies and procedures in place at the other member institutions of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). The legal authority for the IRB comes from the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (described in 45 CFR Part 46, or The Common Rule).

FAQs

What is the IRB Process
1. Prior to completing an application for review, please read the IRB guidelines. The Informed Consent page provides guidelines as to what should be included in an informed consent and an example of an informed consent that you may use as a framework. The Proposal Guidelines page contains an outline of the information that should be included in an IRB proposal.
2. Complete CITI training via the CITI Training page on the IRB website. The Monmouth College IRB will not consider applications from investigators that have not completed CITI training at Monmouth College or another institution within the past ten years.
3. Complete a proposal and application for review. The proposal guidelines are included on the Proposal Guidelines page. The application can be found at the Online Submission Form page. This form is automatically submitted to the chair of the IRB. You will receive confirmation of your submission. We recommend writing the submission in a separate document and copying it into the submission form.
4. After submission, please allow up to two weeks for the initial review of your project before you or your advisor contact the IRB Chair for a follow-up. You may receive comments or suggested edits directly from the IRB Chair.
5. If the project is rejected, the principal investigator may revise and resubmit the proposal.
6. When a project is approved, you will receive an approval letter from the chair of the IRB. Once you have received this letter you may begin your data collection.
What Needs IRB Approval?
All human subjects research conducted by students, faculty, and staff of Monmouth College and all research conducted with Monmouth College students, faculty, or staff as participants must receive approval from the IRB. If your research meets the definitions of research involving human subjects below, you must complete the IRB process.
What is a Human Subject?
Federal regulations define a human subject as “a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains (1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or (2) identifiable private information.”
All Monmouth College faculty, staff, or student research projects that engage human subjects must be submitted for review. Student researchers should have their faculty sponsor review their completed application and application materials before submission to the IRB.
What is Research?
According to federal regulations, “research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.”
What kinds of projects will the IRB not approve?
Projects will not be approved if the risks to the research subjects or the researcher outweigh the benefits of the research. To ensure that your project receives approval, you should be able to explain the benefits and how you plan to minimize any potential harm.
Do I need IRB approval if my project has been approved by another institution?
If you are collaborating on a research project and your collaborators at other institutions have sought approval from the review board of their institution, you must also complete the IRB process.
If you have previously obtained approval from another institution to engage in research and are continuing the research project without any substantive changes, you must forward your approval documents to the chair of the IRB.
If you have previously obtained approval from another institution to engage in research and are continuing the research project with substantive changes or a new direction, you must complete a new IRB submission.
Do I need IRB approval if I am analyzing secondary data?
If you are analyzing secondary data (that is, data collected by someone else) that are publicly available and that do not include information identifying the research subject, you do not need to obtain IRB approval before beginning your data analysis. If you have questions about whether your project meets these criteria, contact the chair of the IRB.

What is the IRB Process
1. Prior to completing an application for review, please read the IRB guidelines. The Informed Consent page provides guidelines as to what should be included in an informed consent and an example of an informed consent that you may use as a framework. The Proposal Guidelines page contains an outline of the information that should be included in an IRB proposal.
2. Complete CITI training via the CITI Training page on the IRB website. The Monmouth College IRB will not consider applications from investigators that have not completed CITI training at Monmouth College or another institution within the past ten years.
3. Complete a proposal and application for review. The proposal guidelines are included on the Proposal Guidelines page. The application can be found at the Online Submission Form page. This form is automatically submitted to the chair of the IRB. You will receive confirmation of your submission. We recommend writing the submission in a separate document and copying it into the submission form.
4. After submission, please allow up to two weeks for the initial review of your project before you or your advisor contact the IRB Chair for a follow-up. You may receive comments or suggested edits directly from the IRB Chair.
5. If the project is rejected, the principal investigator may revise and resubmit the proposal.
6. When a project is approved, you will receive an approval letter from the chair of the IRB. Once you have received this letter you may begin your data collection.
What Needs IRB Approval?
All human subjects research conducted by students, faculty, and staff of Monmouth College and all research conducted with Monmouth College students, faculty, or staff as participants must receive approval from the IRB. If your research meets the definitions of research involving human subjects below, you must complete the IRB process.
What is a Human Subject?
Federal regulations define a human subject as “a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains (1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or (2) identifiable private information.”
All Monmouth College faculty, staff, or student research projects that engage human subjects must be submitted for review. Student researchers should have their faculty sponsor review their completed application and application materials before submission to the IRB.
What is Research?
According to federal regulations, “research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.”
What kinds of projects will the IRB not approve?
Projects will not be approved if the risks to the research subjects or the researcher outweigh the benefits of the research. To ensure that your project receives approval, you should be able to explain the benefits and how you plan to minimize any potential harm.
Do I need IRB approval if my project has been approved by another institution?
If you are collaborating on a research project and your collaborators at other institutions have sought approval from the review board of their institution, you must also complete the IRB process.
If you have previously obtained approval from another institution to engage in research and are continuing the research project without any substantive changes, you must forward your approval documents to the chair of the IRB.
If you have previously obtained approval from another institution to engage in research and are continuing the research project with substantive changes or a new direction, you must complete a new IRB submission.
Do I need IRB approval if I am analyzing secondary data?
If you are analyzing secondary data (that is, data collected by someone else) that are publicly available and that do not include information identifying the research subject, you do not need to obtain IRB approval before beginning your data analysis. If you have questions about whether your project meets these criteria, contact the chair of the IRB.