{"id":863,"date":"2025-02-11T17:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T17:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/?page_id=863"},"modified":"2026-06-24T02:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T02:56:19","slug":"irb-application-tips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/irb-application-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"IRB Application Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">The goal of the Research Compliance Office and the IRB is to ensure that MTSU research adheres to federal regulations regarding the treatment of research subjects. Research involving human subjects should prioritize the participants&#8217; well-being when completing the IRB application. Thoughtful consideration of research participants&#8217; well-being throughout the application process demonstrates the researcher&#8217;s adherence to the Belmont Report\u2019s core values of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, as well as the Common Rule&#8217;s evaluation standards: &#8220;This [IRB] evaluation will take into consideration the risks to the subjects, the adequacy of protection against these risks, the potential benefits of the research to the subjects and others, and the importance of the knowledge gained or to be gained.&#8221; To help researchers comply with these federal regulations and ethical standards, below are the top tips for writing a thoughtful application.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Make sure all necessary CITI trainings are completed before submitting your application*&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A clearly explained purpose to the study \u2013 hypothesis, procedures, and how this study would be useful\/beneficial&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thoughtful consideration for research participants wellbeing while writing the study design and procedures&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proper recruitment documents and procedures**&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The subjects are adequately informed, and consent documents are proper***&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All other required forms\/documents, if necessary for your study, are provided.&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Research involving minors in a school will require support letters from the school\u2019s administration. Similarly, enrolling prisoners or patients admitted to a hospital would also require letters of support from the prison or hospital, respectively.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In all these cases, the entity\u2014school, prison, or hospital\u2014is responsible for the participants, and therefore their consent is mandatory. Other entities may require permission forms but the three examples above are all required by the IRB. To find more information refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/permissionletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IRB permission letters page<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This list is not exhaustive. Other documents may need to be attached depending on your study. Within the Cayuse portal, the application process will show what documents you may need. Reviewers may also request documents at their discretion.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you are conducting research with a vulnerable population, make sure your whole study adheres to federal regulations. More information regarding studying participants considered vulnerable populations can be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/workingwithvulnerablepopulations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IRB website<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Determine the risk factors your participants may encounter. Ask yourself the following questions to help identify risks:  Are there any risks? If so, are they necessary? Did the researcher take all possible steps to minimize them? What is the risk-to-benefit ratio? What risks might an impartial independent observer identify, even if they are statistically negligible? If I were a participant, what might I perceive as a risk of participating in this study?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The investigators make every effort to protect the confidentiality of the participants&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The researchers properly explain the data usage, analysis, and storage procedures&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>*<\/strong> Make sure to use your MTSU email for your CITI account so that your training will sync onto the Cayuse platform.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">** For studies in which participants will interact with or wear equipment, the IRB suggests including images of the equipment on recruitment forms. Since participants may be unfamiliar with the equipment used, images can help convey a clearer understanding of the study or procedure they may be signing up for.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*** The consent templates have been designed to include all required elements of consent. Modify the existing templates to fit your study context, but do not remove required elements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>These tips do not guarantee any specific review level or quick approval. Review takes place in stages as noted on the Cayuse portal; researchers can be asked to add additional information at any stage and all requested information must be supplied before final approval can be granted.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Important Links<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CITI &#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/about.citiprogram.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/about.citiprogram.org\/<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IRB Website &#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IRB Forms &#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/forms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/forms\/<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cayuse &#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mtsu.app.cayuse.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/mtsu.app.cayuse.com\/<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For students needing help with their Cayuse account or application, they can contact Research Compliance Assistant Shen Maestre at <a>shen.maestreorsp@mtsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The goal of the Research Compliance Office and the IRB is to ensure that MTSU research adheres to federal regulations regarding the treatment of research subjects. Research involving human subjects should prioritize the participants&#8217; well-being when completing the IRB application. Thoughtful consideration of research participants&#8217; well-being throughout the application process demonstrates the researcher&#8217;s adherence to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-bannernosidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-863","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2362,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/863\/revisions\/2362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/irb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}