Review and approval of proposed research activities that involve the use of human subjects is required prior to the start of data collection. Projects which are not reviewed and approved prior to the start of data collection cannot receive "retroactive" approval.
The application form is available for downloading here. When completing the form, please provide the requested information as briefly as possible, in lay terms, keeping in mind the primary concern for the human subjects to be involved. Summarize whenever possible; copious excerpts from grant/dissertation proposals incorporated into the application itself will only slow down the review process. Be sure to attach copies of surveys, questionnaires, interview questions/topics, informed consent documents, recruitment advertisements or solicitations, and any other materials that subjects will encounter in conjunction with the study. Please note that, for projects applying for external funding, the investigator is required to submit a copy of the entire grant proposal along with the IRB application.
For all projects the department chair (or authorized departmental reviewer) is required to conduct a thorough review and sign the application; a student project also requires the signature of the student's faculty advisor. Regardless of review category, review forms must be submitted to the Office of Research Compliance (301 Lowden Hall) promptly upon completion of the departmental review. The cover page of the application is an optional screening form for use, when needed, in instances where it is unclear whether activities constitute research with human subjects requiring IRB approval. If the project is clearly research with human subjects, the investigator need not complete the cover page but should complete and submit the remaining pages of the application form. If, upon completion of this Screening Form, the project does NOT qualify as human-subjects research requiring IRB approval, a copy of the Screening Form (and any other materials submitted) is kept for departmental records and only the signed original Screening Form page is sent to the Office of Research Compliance in 301 Lowden Hall).
Projects that qualify for Administrative Review or Subcommittee Review do not need to wait for a convened IRB meeting although the Board ultimately receives all applications and may review any or all of them. Generally the approval process takes about a week to ten days. Other projects requiring full IRB review should be submitted to the ORC by the researcher as soon as possible, but no less than ten days before the next scheduled IRB meeting date. IRB meetings are generally held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month except during holiday and university break periods.
Please note that copies of all documentation related to a project should be retained in a secure location for at least three years after its conclusion. Also, because a copy of the consent form used in any project must be given to the subjects involved, it is recommended that a line be included in the consent form for the subject to acknowledge receipt of a copy. Sample consent forms are also available on the ORC website.
Copies of the NIU human subjects policy and federal regulations governing the use of human subjects by NIU researchers, guidelines for the informed consent process, and general assistance with the review process are available from the IRB Review Process Page or upon request from the Office of Research Compliance in 301 Lowden Hall.
ORC Contact information:
Dr. Sandra Arntz
Assistant Vice President for Research
Telephone: (815) 753-8524
E-mail: sarntz@niu.edu
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