Institutional Review Board
Cal Poly Humboldt is committed to promoting, encouraging, and facilitating academic and clinical research. The purpose of Humboldt's Policy for Protection of Human Subjects in Research is both to protect the rights and well-being of human subjects of research and to support the research efforts of Cal Poly Humboldt faculty and students. This policy encourages recognition of the basic ethical principles for the use of human subjects: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice.
If you have a research project that includes humans or data on humans, you may be required to submit a proposal to the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research, also known as the Institutional Review Board (IRB). This will ensure that your project will not only comply with Federal regulations; it will also protect the rights and well-being of your subjects.
A human subject means a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research: (i) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (ii) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information oridentifiable biospecimens.
All research personnel, including students, that have direct contact with research participants must complete CITI training and be listed on the IRB application.
Research that generates or processes Level 1 data about participants, as defined by the California State University’s Information Security Data Classification Standards (available here), needs to be coordinated with the Humboldt Information Security Office
Steps to Take:
1. Review a Slideshow about the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process.
2. Complete CITI Training, save an electronic version (pdf) of the Completion Report and submit with your proposal.
3. If your research involves obtaining access to Humboldt student, staff, and/or faculty contact information via Institutional Research, Analytics, and Reporting (IRAR), Click Here to review Humboldt’s policy and practice and obtain authorization, if applicable.
4. Please be aware that Risk Management may request additional information and subsequent actions on your part after you receive your IRB approval. The IRB’s mission is to protect human subjects in research. Risk Management’s mission is the protection of Humboldt and individual researchers.
5. Due to COVID, if your research involves in-person research, you may need to get Environmental Health & Safety approval before you receive your final IRB approval. Contact irb@humboldt.edu for more information.
6. Click Here to follow the steps for your IRB submission
7. Here are some features of the Drupal IRB submission process and webpage:
- You may submit a Reqistration, Application, Modification, or Renewal form.
- You may enter data, edit data, and review past submissions all within Drupal.
- Note that there are Help pages on the Main Menu to the left on the Drupal webpage.