Submitting Your Protocol to the IRB
Before you submit your protocol, you must complete the following steps:
- Complete the online training program from CITI for research involving human subjects
- Carefully read all of the information on the IRB website, particularly the “Review Categories” page, which will help you to determine which application type to complete. The IRB webpages should contain all the information you need to prepare your application. (Note that IRB forms and regulations changed in January 2019, particularly for Exempt research, which was broadened and had categories altered.)
- Access the application form by completing the following steps:
- Log in to Campus Experience using either Firefox or Chrome
- Click the icon on the left side of the screen to access the “Student/Faculty Center” page
- Click the “GBC Menus” image
- Click the “Institutional Review Board” image
- Complete the application form on the “IRB Submitter Dashboard”
- Include all supporting documents in PDF format.
- Choose “Submit and Lock” when you are done with your application to submit it to the IRB (note that you are able to save your application without submitting so that you can work on it over several sessions if necessary).
- A Note for Students: If you are a student, work closely with your faculty advisor as you develop your materials. Make sure your advisor has approved your application exactly as it will be submitted. After you have incorporated all of the changes your advisor recommends, make sure that your advisor sends an e-mail to irb@gettysburg.edu containing the following statement: “I assume responsibility for ensuring that [student's(s') name(s)] is/are aware of their responsibilities as researcher(s). I have mentored him/her/them in filling out this proposal and have reviewed the final draft, which I approve. I will oversee this research in its entirety.”
- A Note for External Applicants: In order to conduct research on Gettysburg’s campus, applicants must be affiliated with Gettysburg College (as faculty, staff, or students). All other applicants require a Gettysburg-affiliated internal sponsor to go through the IRB process. This sponsor must be a current faculty or staff member and cannot be an alumnus.
Time-Frame for IRB Review
Applications for Exempt and Expedited review can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed within two weeks (except, in some cases, when an application arrives during a break). An application for Full review will be reviewed at our next monthly meeting, providing it arrives a week before the meeting. Please contact the IRB chair if you have questions about the timing of a submission for full review.
Monthly Meeting Dates for 2024-2025
- September 18, 2024
- October 16, 2024
- November 20, 2024
- February 19, 2025
- March 19, 2025
- April 16, 2025
Approval: The P.I. will receive a letter from the IRB confirming approval, and research can begin immediately.
Revise & Resubmit: The P.I. will receive a letter from the IRB suggesting revisions to the protocol, requesting additional information, and/or requesting supplemental materials.
Reject: a protocol that has been rejected generally indicates an inappropriate use of research that may impact the rights or well-being of the anticipated human participants, or a research project for which the benefits clearly do not justify the risks. This is extremely rare, since the IRB usually works with researchers to develop ethically sound research through a revise and resubmit process that includes extensive feedback.
Revisions to Approved Research
Federal regulations require “prompt reporting to the IRB of proposed changes in a research activity” and that “such changes in approved research, during the period for which IRB approval has already been given, may not be initiated without IRB review and approval except when necessary to eliminate apparent immediate hazards to subject.” If a P.I. finds that s/he needs to make substantial changes to the previously approved research protocol, s/he is required to submit a completed Revision Form and cease data collection until the IRB chair notifies him/her in writing that s/he is permitted to resume the project.
Continuation of Research
Exempt Research, having been validated as “exempt,” can proceed indefinitely and has no time-limit
Expedited Research, as per the revised Common Rule (implemented in January 2019), can also continue indefinitely without any further IRB review.
Full Review, in most cases, will result in approval granted for one calendar year in duration, beginning from the date appearing on the formal letter confirming the protocol's approval. If a P.I. needs to extend the research beyond this approved time period, s/he is required to submit a Continuation Form to the IRB Administrator who will notify the P.I. in writing as to whether the P.I. is permitted to continue the study beyond the original approval date. Data collection may not continue past the original approval date until this permission has been received.
The revised Common Rule (implemented in January 2019) allows some research activities under a Full review application to extend beyond the one-year mark without necessitating submission of the Continuation form. These research activities include:
- Research that has completed all interventions and now only includes analyzing data, even if the information or biospecimens are identifiable
- Research that has completed all interventions and now only includes accessing follow-up clinical data from clinical care procedures