Human Research and IRB

Institutional Review Board
If researchers are ACU faculty, staff or students, and the research—whether external or internal—involves human subjects, the project director or principal investigator (PI) must submit a Research Review Request to the Institutional Review Board (IRB). He or she must obtain approval before beginning the research. If a non-ACU PI wishes to conduct research on ACU campus and/or involving ACU faculty, staff, or students and has received IRB approval from another institution with whom he or she is affiliated, the PI must complete an External Review Request and attach the final approved IRB application and approval letter. Collaborative research with another institution should involve an IRB Authorization Agreement with the collaborating institution, identifying the IRB of review. The Institutional Review Board page will provide further information on how to submit an appropriate application for a study and what to do once it is approved.

Ethics Training 
Research involving human participants must abide by the Federal Regulations protecting human subjects (45 CFR 46 and 21 CFR, as appropriate). It is the responsibility of the investigators to become familiar with these regulations and ensure that all studies conducted at ACU abide by these policies. All investigators must receive training on the history and current policies of human research ethics. In addition, all research team members must complete EthicsCORE Responsible Conduct of Research Training. The Training page will provide further information on these regulations and training. 

Please note that the Federal Regulations for protecting human subjects have changed as of January 19, 2018. ACU has implemented changes to our forms, policies, and procedures to be in compliance with the revisions. Most of these revisions are designed to reduce administrative burden and foster minimal risk research. You may find information on what has changed on the FAQ page.