Guidelines for IRB Assistance

Contact: Office of Nursing Research
Phone:   215.898.3151
Email:    research@nursing.upenn.edu

The mission of the IRB is to promote the rights and welfare of human research participants; to facilitate excellence in human research by providing timely and high quality review of human research, and to provide professional guidance and support to the research community.

Staff at the Office of Nursing Research (ONR) are available to assist researchers with the IRB application process. This includes: 

• A preliminary review of the research proposal with the researcher present. This can help the researcher identify aspects of the study that need additional work before the proposal is sent to the IRB. For instance, ONR can help to identify the elements of information that should be included in a consent document or a protocol summary. ONR cannot write proposals or IRB-related documents for researchers, but can assist with revisions.
   
• Helping researchers determine which type of review (exempt, expedited, full board) their study requires. The IRB office makes the final determination upon review of the proposal.    
   
• Helping researchers navigate and complete the electronic online application process and identifying the forms that must be completed with specific IRB submissions.
   
• Helping researchers prepare the IRB application for Continuing Review or for filing for an Amendment to a proposal.
   
• Helping researchers respond to IRB concerns and stipulation letters.
  
  ONR advises all researchers to save electronic copies of their applications. ONR no longer keeps hard copies of researchers' IRB-related materials.