Institutional Review Board

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Institutional Review Board

SFA seeks to protect the welfare of every person who may be a subject of a research activity. The university complies with appropriate federal, state, and local laws, including regulations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research (45 CFR Part 46, as amended). SFA follows the ethical principles regarding all research involving humans as subjects as set forth in the report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, entitled Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research (the "Belmont Report"), and in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Apply

For application instructions, visit Human Ethics.

Application status

You may access the human ethics page on Cayuse using your mySFA credentials to check the status of your application. The IRB meets on the first Thursday of each month to review full applications. Full applications must be submitted at least two weeks before the IRB meeting.

For questions related to an application, email irb@sfasu.edu. Please direct other questions via email to Rebekah Raney at steelear@sfasu.edu.

Timelines

Depending on the influx of proposals, your proposal may take longer to review.

  • Full board applications: 4-6 weeks
  • Expedited and exempt applications: 3-5 weeks. 

Exempt, Expedited and Full Board Review

Depending on the type of project that you are submitting, you may need exempt, expedited or full board review. The type of review is determined by risk level and categories defined by the federal regulations.  Minimal risk is defined by the federal regulations in the following way:

Minimal risk is the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests [45 CFR 46.102(j)]

Exempt Review

Minimal to no risk.  This does not mean that they are exempt from IRB review, just that some of the federal requirements that apply to non-exempt studies are not applicable to studies deemed exempt.

Expedited Review

Unlike exempt review, expedited review falls under the full protection of regulations and are reviewed administratively by the IRB Exempt/Expedited Team:

  • Presents no more than minimal risk to subjects
  • Falls into one of the expedited categories authorized by 46 CFR 46 and 21 CFR 56 (FDA regulations).  Inclusion of an activity on the list does not automatically deem it to be minimal risk
  • Research is not classified

All expedited studies must adhere to the requirements for informed consent or its waiver or alteration.

Full Board

Studies that are not eligible for expedited review (do not meet the definition of minimal risk and/or do not fit into an expedited category) must be reviewed by the convened IRB.