BC IRB Newsletter

The Office for Research Protections (ORP) provides administrative support to the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB's mission is to protect the rights and welfare of human participants who volunteer to take part in research at Boston College. Federal regulations and University Policy require prospective review and approval of all human subject research conducted by faculty, staff, or students. As with Boston College's Jesuit tradition of excellence, service and beneficence, the goal of the IRB is to ensure the safe and ethical treatment of research participants.

Latest News
It is not necessary to send Dissertation proposals to the IRB. We are actively working to update our website and forms to reflect this change. Stephen Erickson will continue in his role as Interim Director, Office for Research Protections for the foreseeable future.Dr. Erickson can be reached via email or phone 617.552.3345.

New Training Policy

ORP accepts CITI or NIH training certificates. In the CITI training program, please take the Social/Behavioral Research Modules. It is the only module that will satisfy the training requirement. Careful attention should be paid to the BC instructions found on the CITI website as they provide good guidance to taking that training program. Any other modules (e.g., Responsible Conduct of Research) will not meet the training requirement.
CITI or NIH training certificates will be regarded as being active for three years from the date recorded on the certificate. If your training has expired, please take the online CITI refresher course or the NIH training course. ORP and the IRB will review protocols only if training certificates for all researchers involved in a study have current training certificates.
All faculty, staff and students submitting IRB applications must meet this training requirement. There are no exceptions.
Please refer to our website for details.

New Procedures

The IRB no longer requires hard copies of application materials! Proposals should be sent to us via e-mail in one PDF.
If you are unable to submit your protocol with a digital signature, please print out the signature page and fax the signed page to us at x20498. Always include a cover sheet which identifies the study the signature page relates to.
For protocols involving research funded by sponsored projects, PIs should submit the latest version of the sponsored project proposal, not the grant. ORP and the IRB are required to ensure consistency between the funding proposal and human participant research protocol. If a proposal involves several tasks, studies, or experiments, please indicate which pages in the proposal are relevant to the protocol. This will speed up our review.

Reminders

The IRB is OPEN during the Summer!
Only complete protocols are sent for IRB review. Please make sure your protocol includes your signature, your faculty advisor's signature and all relevant training certificates, consent/assent forms, studies with minors forms, site permission letters and approvals from other institutions.
Protocols involving minors as participants do not qualify for exempt review.
Protocols with special subject populations (e.g. prisoners) require full board review at a fully convened IRB meeting. See 45 CFR 46 Subparts B-D. Only greater than minimal risk research is reviewed at a convened IRB meeting.
The Office for Research Protections has drop-in hours on Wednesday afternoons 2-4pm. Please stop by Waul House (third floor) with your questions. Other times are available by appointment.
Protocols are approved for one year. Please remember to submit your continuing review application well in advance (60 days) of the expiration date listed on your approval notice.