Notes from the Vice President for Research
Conducting research is a collective experience wherein researchers exchange their knowledge and discovery with a world that expects honesty, integrity, and high ethical standards. We researchers should always work toward maintaining the highest levels of research integrity and ethical behavior, checking those against the guidelines of the Institutional Review Board. We should see the IRB review process as a significant step in our course of research to protect the subjects who agree to participate in our studies.
Faculty and graduate students at WSU who conduct human subject research must understand the risks as well as the benefits, and weigh them carefully. Fortunately, the IRB acts as a steward to help keep researchers on track and to assure that they are always mindful of the safety of their participants. The IRB also works to establish the reliability of human subject research according to established social conventions.
More on Conducting Research with Human Subjects
When research involves people, researchers have the additional responsibility to address ethical and legal guidelines related to human subjects. If planning to work with human subjects, researchers must address several issues before they begin their study, including obtaining the informed consent of participants and protecting them from potential harm due to their participation in the study. Informed consent is usually obtained through the use of a document prepared by the researcher describing the research and participant’s role. This document must be reviewed and approved by the WSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) before you begin your study. Find templates to assist in the preparation of an informed consent document.
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
Effective February 1, 2008, the following changes were made:
- The IRB will only review projects that meet the definition of research.
- Principal Investigators (PIs) on IRB applications must be WSU faculty or staff.
- Forms for both exempt and non-exempt applications were modified.
- The process for the evaluation of exempt research applications has been modified.
- Initiation of Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) or Web-based human subjects training.
View modified procedures and forms.
ORA personnel are
available to assist all researchers with IRB related
questions.
Please call Malathi Jandhyala at 509-335-3668 or
Patrick Conner 509-335-7195.
Resources
IRB
Guidebook
The Belmont Report
Federal Regulations
WSU Human Subjects
Office of Research
Assurances
Office for Human
Research Protections
IRB
resources
Recommendations
for Class Projects
Human
Subject Forms and Templates
Required
Human Subjects Training
Guidelines