Institutional Review Board

Friends University commits itself to the pursuit of excellence in research while seeking to protect the welfare, rights and privacy of all persons who are involved in research projects. The university is guided by the common federal policy of the protection of human subjects (Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations Part 46 “Protection of Human Subjects,” July 14, 2009) and the amendments in the federal register, and the Belmont Report delineating respect for persons, beneficence and justice as the ethical principles guiding research using humans as participants. Questions concerning these procedures should be directed to the sitting Chair of the institutional review board (IRB) at irb@friends.edu.

Regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) require that all universities that receive federal funding in support of research with human participants establish an IRB. The IRB is mandated to: 1) examine all proposals for research that involve human subjects before the research is conducted to determine that the research protocol has adequately considered the ethical dimensions of the project and 2) to provide assurance as required to the university, to funding agencies and to the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP) that all research with human subjects is in compliance with federal regulations.

The IRB has the authority to approve, require modifications in order to secure approval, or reject all research activities covered by the HHS regulations, including proposed changes in ongoing and previously approved human research. It has the authority to suspend or terminate the approval of ongoing, previously approved research that is not being conducted in accordance with the IRB’s requirements or that has been associated with unexpected, serious harm to participants. For externally funded research that involves the use of human participants, IRB approval needs to be acquired prior to proposal approval by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

In addition to relying on the sections of the Common Code cited by number throughout this document, sections of the Friends IRB policy are modeled after comparable and more research oriented institutions adhering to the same federal guidelines, including Moravian College of Bethlehem, The University of South Florida, Pennsylvania State, Kansas State, The University of Tampa, Clemson University, and Rollins College.

Application and Full Guideline Downloads

Download the full IRB policies PDF and the IRB application below:

Institutional Review Board Research Application Form

Institutional Review Board Guidelines 2018