Institutional Review Boards
New Item!
Check out a new report from the National Science and Technology Council on expedited review of social and behavioral science research here.
2008 Convention
IRB Symposium Presentations

Check out the panelists' 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
Assessing Trauma and its Effects Without Distress: A Guide to Working with IRBs
[2008]Talking with Your IRBs About Risk: Show Them the Data [2008]
Moving Forward with IRBs: Best Practices [2008]
Replicating Milgram [2007]
IRBs: Navigating the Maze [2007]
Could Reality Shows Become Reality Experiments? Which reality shows would pass an IRB? [2005]
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]
ABCs of IRBs [2002]
Comments on IRBs [2001]
IRBs and the Review of Psychological Research IRBs are under increased scrutiny as researchers and policy makers look at ways to balance protections for human subjects with the needs of research. APS wants to hear about your IRB experiences and your ideas for changing the system. [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]
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]
IRBs and Research Design I am a psychologist who has been chair of our institution's IRB for the past several years. I need to comment on some erroneous information in the article on IRBs [March, 2001]. [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]
Regulatory Changes Affecting IRBs and Researchers An experienced IRB chair, Christine Hansen, outlines some of the latest developments affecting IRB reviews, plus she offers some tips for making your IRB run more smoothly. [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]
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]
