Bard                          Institutional Review Board

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What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

The role of an IRB is to foster ethical treatment of human research participants. Before IRBs were instituted as a national standard, some researchers conducted studies that resulted in serious and unwelcomed consequences for the participants. For these researchers, the potential gained knowledge overshadowed the harm done to the participants. IRBs have since been instituted to make sure a balance exists between harm to subjects and potential gain.

Institutional Review Boards function in three ways:
  1. by educating the community about commonly accepted standards for the ethical treatment of volunteer research participants,
  2. by fostering discussion about how those general principles apply in particular cases and the balance between the risks to research participants and the long-term benefits of the research, and
  3. by reviewing ongoing research to ensure that it complies with commonly accepted practices and standards.

Intellectual activities that are governed by IRBs are only those which meet ALL three of the following criteria:
  1. Research that produces generalizable or universal knowledge;

  2. Research that involves human participants;

  3. Research involving human participants that is required to be reviewed under existing IRB procedures.

If you aren’t sure whether your research must be reviewed by the IRB, please check out the Frequently Asked Questions page.

The IRB at Bard

All research carried out by Bard College faculty, staff, and students for which people are research participants must be carried out in accordance with Bard College IRB policies.

Before data collection can begin on a project, the IRB must review and approve the methods and procedures that will be used. This includes proposals for:
  • Faculty research

  • Senior projects

  • Research conducted outside of the classroom (e.g., independent projects)

  • Class projects that serve as pilot studies

When a project is approved, the consent forms will be given a date stamp including the duration of approval (1 year, renewable). Once a project is approved, the content of the consent form and the experimental procedures should not be altered. If subsequent changes are necessary, an amendment must be filed specifying the changes. Approval for the changes must be received by the researcher before data collection can resume. To submit such a revision, click on the "Submit Online" link to your left and then click on "Submit a Proposal Revision."

Deadlines for Submitting Proposals

Each proposal must be read by the IRB Chair, be reviewed by at least one primary reviewer, and be discussed in a full committee meeting. This takes time! Please structure your proposal carefully, include all of the necessary materials, and describe the content of your methods in detail. Working closely with your faculty adviser and/or an IRB commitee member will facilitate the review process. Late submissions will be reviewed at the NEXT meeting date.

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Meeting Dates


Spring 2013 Deadlines

Proposals due: IRB Meeting: Response sent by:
February 5 February 14 February 21
March 5 March 14 March 21
April 9 April 18 April 25
May 7 May 16 May 23