Overview
The St. Olaf Institutional Review Board (IRB) provides training and reviews for research projects that study people. The college affirms the ethical principles of respect, beneficence, and justice. These principles inform federal policy for the protection of human subjects and St. Olaf’s approach to preparing researchers to thoughtfully protect the rights and well-being of participants in their projects. St. Olaf is accountable to the federal Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) for the ethical conduct of inquiry projects involving people.
Does your project need an IRB application?
Any project involving people needs to observe the principles of respect, beneficence, and justice, but not all need to be reviewed by the IRB. Answer these questions to start learning about the expectations for you and your project.
Will you collect or analyze information from or about people, whether through surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations of behavior, or analysis of existing records?
NO YES
Ready to apply or need additional resources?
Requirements and Resources explains what you will need to do to submit an application and offers information on oral history projects.
Ethics Plan and Related Forms has materials for initial applications and requests to continue approved projects. It includes permission forms and a review form that can be used for projects that do not need to be reviewed by an IRB member.