Institutional Review Boards
Penalties for Student Research Participants Failing to Show Up for Studies?
The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), a unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that oversees participant protections in all HHS-supported research, announced this past January that federal regulations do not allow the penalization of students who sign up for a research study as part of a course requirement and then fail to show up for the appointment without cancelling in advance. The announcement and relevant documents are posted on the OHRP website. You'll see that OHRP's letter to the third part management company involved describes some acceptable alternative approaches for encouraging students to show up for scheduled appointments with investigators without imposing penalties on students who fail to show up.
The behavioral research community should take notice of this announcement. Some researchers and institutions don't impose penalties, but those who do may have to change their procedures in order to, in their view, effectively conduct research with students. There is debate around the issue, ranging from the idea that consent to participate in research must be voluntary and devoid of any undue influence (and this is actually written into the federal guidelines), to the view that penalties help instill in students a sense of responsibility and respect for the scientific enterprise. Of central importance is decisions about attendance incentives and to what extent they should be decided by local IRBs.
OHRP welcomes comments on the content of this memorandum. Comments on this or other topics may be submitted to OHRP by email at ohrp@hhs.gov. Please include the phrase "January 8, 2010 letter regarding student subject pools" in the subject field. Alternatively, comments may be submitted to:
Office for Human Research Protections
1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 200
Rockville, MD 20852
2008 Convention
IRB Symposium Presentations
Resources
Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs
- A nonprofit organization that offers accreditation to institutions engaged in research involving human participants.
Workshop in Human Research Protections for Behavioral and Psychological Scientists
The APS 15th Annual Convention featured a Workshop in Human Research Protections for
Behavioral and Psychological Scientists. This day-long course addressed human research
protection issues in the design, implementation, and review of research in the social
sciences, with a special emphasis on research unique to behavioral and psychological
scientists.
View the workshop PowerPoint presentations
Observer Features
Penalties for Student Research Participants Failing to Show Up for Studies?
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Informed Consent and Consent Forms for Research Participants An informative breakdown of Institutional Review Board do's and don'ts. [2004]
Navigating Your First IRB Review Tips on how students can mentally and physically prepare for an IRB review. [2004]
Accreditation Helps Researchers and Subjects Alike Majorie Speers addresses some misunderstood aspects of federal regulations for human research subject protection. [2003]
'Overkill' by IRBs John Mueller discusses IRBs, regulatory representative George Popisil, and the concept of "zero risk" in the bioethics industry. [2003]
State Laws on Human Research Subjects With the recent addition of Maryland, four states now have laws pertaining to human research subject. [2002]
Coping With IRBs: A Guide for the Bureaucratically Challenged Barry Collins offers insider wisdom on when to fight and what to live with in IRBs. [2002]
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Federal Office Leading Effort to Change IRB System [2001]
IRB Review: It Helps to Know the Regulatory Framework Former federal regulator Tom Puglisi offeres guidance for understanding and working within the human subjects protections system. [2001]
No Positive Contribution I served on my university IRB and underwent numerous reviews. I do not recall a single instance in which there was a positive contribution to the advancement of science or a needed protection of a subject. [2001]
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Got the IRB Blues? Some Things You Can Do Barbara A. Spellman offers psychology researchers some advice for dealing with Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and outlines APS's initiatives in this area. [2001]
Reviewing for Risk: What's the Evidence That It Works? In the first of a two-part series, APS Fellows John Mueller and John Furedy raise questions about the effectiveness of research review in protecting human subjects. [2001]
Tips Based on Experience A few tips that have improved the IRB and the approval process at my university. Just a few simple changes made a real difference and brought us from routine grumbles from investigators about the approval process to salutatory e-mails and even an occasional thank-you letter. If your IRB could use improvement, try passing on these ideas to your IRB chair. [2001]
How Do We Know It Works? In the second of a two-part series, the authors raise hard questions about the effectiveness of the IRB review system. [2001]
Behavioral Science Working Group Looks at IRB Regulations The unique needs of behavioral and social science research are being examined by a group involved in assessing the system of protections for human research subjects. [2001]
Growing Concern Over IRB's Prompts NAS Study The National Academy of Sciences launches an examination of IRB review of social science in response to concerns about the system's relevance to and impact on the field. [2001]