Bard                          Institutional Review Board

Summary: What Do I Have to Do?

This is the SHORT SUMMARY of what you need to do to have your project approved by the IRB.
  1. Determine that your project needs to be reviewed and, if so, what type of review it requires (i.e., Exempt, Expedited, or Full Review). To do so, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page or click on the "Is My Project Exempt?" link on the left.

  2. Complete training for the Ethical Treatment of Human Research Participants by clicking on the link to Training and Certification at the left. This will help you better understand the ethical issues you need to think about when designing your study. Save an electronic copy of your certificate or print out TWO copies of the CERTIFICATE in order to document that you've been through the training. Submit one certificate with your proposal (e-mailed with your electronic submission). Be sure to keep one copy for your records.

  3. Work closely with your faculty advisor to finalize your research protocol. We cannot review your proposal unless we know EXACTLY what you are planning to do. You must:

      1. Describe how you will contact and recruit participants

      2. Describe how you will collect data

      3. Provide relevant and representative examples of stimuli or a full list of questions you intend to ask in your interviews

      4. Describe what your participants will do

      5. Document that you have permission to use an existing dataset (e.g., census tract data or medical records) and that the data was conducted in an ethical manner
Your submission for review should contain:
  1. Copies of your recruitment materials including flyers, emails, verbal scripts, etc.

  2. Copies of your research protocol and instruments:

      1. The list of interview questions your will be asking your participants or a representative set stimuli that your participants will see

      2. Separate and complete lists of interview questions if you will be interviewing different groups (e.g., managers and employees) and tailoring the interviews accordingly

      3. Description of procedures for all study conditions, including the control condition

      4. Copies of all questionnaires or instruments

      5. Copies of your consent form, a script for oral consent which explains why consent is necessary, and a copy of the handout you will give to participants telling them how to contact you and the IRB if they have any questions. A separate video or photo consent form, if necessary. Translations of materials into the language of the participants, if your participants will be using a language other than English.

      6. An explanation of how the confidentiality of participants will be maintained.

      7. Documentation that all people involved in data collection have completed training in the Ethical Treatment of Human Research Participants.

      8. Approval of your faculty advisor.

Providing information at this level of detail is necessary so that the Committee can make an informed decision about potential risks to participants. Completing this process will probably help novice researchers prepare careful and consistent procedures of data collection.

How to Submit Your Proposal

Submit your proposals and revisions online by clicking on the Submit Online link to your left.

If you have a page or two of supplemental materials that are not electronic copies, please scan them to create visual images or text files. Name the files [YourName]-[Supplemental] (e.g., "HamondHindiConsent.pdf", "ChoSupplement.jpg", "SmithRecruitmentPoster.txt) then email these document as attachments to irb@bard.edu.

If you have questions about your proposal, please consult with your faculty adviser, or send an email to irb@bard.edu, or visit the IRB chair during IRB office hours.  (These hours are listed under the link on the left, "Contact the IRB.)
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