The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is charged with upholding two broad standards. We must be sure that individuals who agree to participate in research activities are not placed at undue risk and that they are able to give their informed consent freely and without fear of coercion.
The IRB is composed of individuals from wide-ranging disciplines from the academic community at Montclair State University and from the community at large. By virtue of this charge, the IRB must provide individualized attention to each of the numerous projects that are carried out by individuals affiliated with Montclair State.
Before participants are recruited for prospective studies, the IRB reviews proposals to ensure that the rights and privacy of the participants are protected. The IRB works with individual researchers and research teams to ensure that there is adequate protection of the individuals who participate in the research projects. All expedited and full board research projects are evaluated at least biannually to be sure that the participants are protected adequately.
The processes that we use are in concert with the federal regulations that were developed in response to several prior research projects that put volunteers at risk without their consent. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) provide oversight of the IRB.