Research With Human Participants

If you conduct any research study using human participants, Federal Law and College Policy mandate that participants be adequately protected from harm of any kind. This applies to all human participants in a study, regardless of any factors, including whether or not they are members of the RIC community.

Rhode Island College's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is charged with the responsibility for reviewing research involving human participants: to determine whether the rights, welfare and privacy of participants are protected; the risks to participants are outweighed by potential benefits; and informed consent is obtained by adequate and appropriate methods. The Committee follows Federal guidelines and, in some cases, imposes more stringent requirements than Federal guidelines in reviewing research protocols.

How It Works

To protect the rights and welfare of research participants, the validity of research studies and themselves, researchers submit 'research protocols' to the Committee for review and approval. A protocol is a series of documents/forms describing the proposed study, its benefits and risks to participants, and a copy of the informed consent document by which participants give their consent to be included in the study. We also provide a standardized informed consent document which you may use as a basis for building your own. However, you must still submit your version of the informed consent document along with protocol materials for review, even if using our version. The additional documents typically requested in addition to Committee forms include research plans, informed consent and assent documents/scripts, and any recruiting materials you may have produced.

Meetings and Reviews

The Committee meets monthly during the academic year. Submissions must be received by the 1st of each month to be considered during that month's meeting. However, not every study must be reviewed by the full Committee, and can instead be exempted by the Chairperson as a study not qualifying as research or posing minimal risk. The College also recognizes specific criteria that allows for expedited review of studies by two Committee members under similar conditions. The determination of an exemption, expedited review, full review and/or approval of research (funded or unfunded) is made solely by the Committee and the Chairperson. Those who assume exemption or minimal risk without official review by the Committee do so without official College recognition and support.

How Do I Request a Review?

Please proceed to the protocol management system for all submissions to the Committee, including requests for exemption.

Committee members for the 2008-2009 academic year are:

• Dr. Christine Marco, Psychology, Chair
• Dr. Lisa Bain, CIS
• Dr. Patricia Cordeiro, Elementary Education
• Dr. Sue Pearlmutter, Social Work
• Dr. Patricia Quigley, Nursing
• Ms. Lynn Wachtel, College Health Services
• Dr. Dan Weisman, Social Work

CHPR Bylaws