If you are a first time user to this system, read this guide first.

Things to Know/Do Before You Get Started

1. Know whether your project is exempt from review or requires review.

Requests for exempt status require less information to be submitted and take less time to process. Proposals that require review may take two weeks or more before approval is granted. If you ask for exempt status, you will be asked to select one of four categories of activity that qualify. After selecting, you will be asked to justify your selection. If, based on your justification, you do not qualify for exempt status, you will have to resubmit your proposal for review. You can check out the categories of research activity that qualify for exempt status here.

2. Compose text for specific aspects of your IRB proposal; have it available for cutting and pasting into the IRB online system.

Depending upon the kind of project that you are proposing, you will be asked to provide specific information about it. The system is designed to prompt you for the required information. When prompted, if already written all you have to do is copy and paste your prepared text into the text boxes within the system. Some of the types of information that you will be asked to supply include the following:

QuickTip: You can get an idea of what kinds of information the system will prompt you for by running a dummy proposal through it as a preview. Enter your title and select options as they apply to your project. When you are prompted to input text, merely type in a few words (at least one character must be typed into each required text box) and then move on. You can replace all of the dummy text later with your final copy. If you run a preview, do not press the submit button at the end, instead press save. There is no way to recall an incomplete proposal.

Purpose of Research: Keep this section brief. All you need to provide is an indication of your research domain and the main hypotheses you intend to explore. It is not necessary nor is it desirable to provide an extensive literature review or to offer extensive theoretical analyses.

Other Information: Be prepared to describe your research population, especially if it involves people who are not students at Geneseo. Be prepared to describe your recruitment practices, including providing the text of advertising or other announcements that will be used in recruitment. Be prepared to describe the method of your study. Be prepared to describe your procedure for obtaining informed consent. If a consent form will be used to document consent, have the text of it available. Finally, be prepared to offer an analysis of the risks faced by participants in your study and a description of the steps you are taking to mitigate the risks.

3. Guidelines for Informed Consent Documents.

For most research involving human participants at Geneseo, an informed consent form must provide the following information:

• A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, their purposes, and their duration.
• A description of any discomforts, risks or benefits, if any, to be expected by the subject to himself or others as a result of participating in the research.
• A statement describing the extent to which confidentiality of records identifying the subject will be maintained.
• A statement that participation is voluntary, refusal to participate will involve no penalty and that the subject may discontinue participation at any time without penalty, and whom to contact for answers to pertinent questions about the research.

Things to Know about How the System Works

1. First time users will be asked to supply basic contact information.

The first time you log on to submit a proposal, you will be asked for basic contact information. A profile for you will be saved. You can edit this profile at any time. Once your profile exists, the information in it will automatically be available for subsequent proposals.

2. The system is designed to save your work after each page.

At the bottom of each screen in the proposal development mode, is a "Next" button. As soon as you press it, all of the information that you have entered is saved under your project title. Thus, if you cannot complete a proposal in one session, you can come back to it later. Also, when you get to the end of inputting information, press the save button. You can now see how the proposal will look to the IRB members.

3. There is still paperwork that must be completed.

After you submit a proposal, you will be directed to a link that will allow you to print a signature page. This page, with all the required signatures, must be on file with the IRB secreatry (Doty 303) before approval will be granted.

For proposals that require review, all members of the research team must have completed the required training for research with human participants. The link to the training course is available here. Once training has been completed, email the certificate of completion to the Secretary of the IRB (smccart@geneseo.edu).

For some proposals, there may be ancillary materials that while not needed by all members of the IRB should be available to them if requested. For example, for reviewed studies that involve extensive questionnaires, a single paper copy of them should be filed with the Secretary of the IRB.

Tips for Submitting Unusual Proposals

1. How do I submit a proposal for multiple student projects in one class?

If all of the projects qualify for exempt status, then submit a single proposal. The title of your project should be something like "Class Projects for Psyc 352." When you are asked to select the reason for exempt status, choose the one that is most apt. When asked for the justification, describe the range of projects anticipated and explain how you as the instructor will monitor the projects to ensure that all projects comply with requirements of exempt status.

Class projects that do not qualify for exempt status must be reviewed. Each project must be submitted separately. Please allow two weeks for the review process to be completed.

2. What if the options presented by the system do not fit my project?

The system was designed with the typical kinds of projects that have been run at Geneseo in mind. If, after previewing, you do not see options that fit your project or there is information that you feel is important that is not prompted by the system, then please contact the chair of the IRB. Most of the time, you should still be able to use the system. The key to adapting your proposal to it is to realize that the text boxes will hold whatever text you enter. Thus, feel free to enter relevant information that is not explicitly called for by the prompts that appear with each text box. These prompts were designed to elicit the information that is typically provided. All text that you enter will be displayed in the final proposal.