HRP FAQs
- Who can be a Principal Investigator (PI)?
- All tenured and tenure-track faculty, research faculty, directors, chairs, vice presidents and associate vice presidents may be a PI. Emeritus faculty may be a PI with Dean and Vice President for Research approval. Students (undergraduate and graduate) and post-doctoral fellows must have a faculty advisor listed on the protocol in order to be PI.
- How do I know if I need IRB approval for my study?
- How long will it take for the IRB to review and approve my study?
- Exempt protocol determinations and expedited protocol approvals typically take approximately 2.5 to 3.5 weeks for approval. Full board protocols typically take longer, since they must be reviewed at a convened meeting.
- Can I use data collected in a previously approved study in a current study?
- Data collected in a previously approved study may be used in a current study if the consent covered the subsequent use of data. Please see Exempt category 4 for research with previously collected data by another researcher. If a new PI will be working with the existing data, he/she must submit a new research protocol request to the IRB for review and approval.
- What are some generally accepted techniques to protect subjects’ confidentiality?
- The following techniques for assuring confidentiality are listed on a continuum according to the degree of prospective harm that may occur:
- Substitute codes for personal identifiers and store the key in a different physical location;
- Remove the face sheet, which typically contains personal identifying information such as name, telephone, address;
- The data can also be recoded to eliminate identifiers by collapsing them into categories;
- Researchers may apply for a federal National Institutes of Health (NIH) Certificate of Confidentiality(CoC) or other federal agency equivalent to protect sensitive information from subpoena or other legal processes or governmental agencies. The U.S. National Institute of Justice (DOJ) provides guidance about when a Privacy Certificate is required.
- Are there extra requirements to conduct research in schools?
- Yes, research conducted in the public and/or private schools must receive approval from both the UTEP IRB and the School District Administration within which the investigator plans to conduct the study.
- Do requirements differ for international research compared to research conducted in the US?
- Yes and no. The requirements may differ because research conducted in countries other than in the U.S.* are subject to those countries’ legal requirements as well as cultural norms and customs with which researchers, including researchers from FSU, may be expected to conform. These requirements may differ in significant ways from those that apply to studies conducted in the U.S. See this federal agency compilation of international standards for human subjects protection, covering all regions of the world and most countries. Regardless of whether research is conducted abroad or in the US, US federal laws that govern human research will apply to the research.
*Note that research that includes virtual interactions or interventions between researchers located in the US and human participants who are located in countries other than the US is considered international research.
