Institutional Review Board (IRB)

IRB News

September 2019 – Is this classroom project research, or not?

With the Fall semester up and running, many faculty are getting ready to introduce classroom projects that involve human subjects research. But do you or your students need IRB approval to complete the assignments?

The SCSU IRB recognizes that some research conducted on human participants is not for the purposes of generalizable knowledge, but rather for the purposes of learning about research design (culminating projects are excluded from this).

Here are some requirements of classroom research that does not need IRB approval:

  • Does not pose more than minimal risk to participants (see the Rule here)
  • No identifying information is collected
  • No sensitive information is collected
  • Consent forms meet SCSU standards (see: https://www.stcloudstate.edu/irb/protocol.aspx)
  • Recruitment process is voluntary and transparent to participants
  • Data will not be used again for any purposes

It is the faculty’s responsibility to ensure all projects not submitted for IRB review meet these criteria. The list provided here, however, is not exhaustive. When in doubt, email the IRB Chair for clarification.

If there are deviations from these minimal requirements, it is best to submit an IRB Protocol application. The concern most often brought to SCSU’s IRB is the last one on using data for other purposes. SCSU’s IRB does not support classroom research being elevated to generalizable because the student and/or faculty found the data interesting. Any interest in disseminating the project should be addressed prior to the study with an IRB Protocol application.

Any questions over this or other IRB activities can be directed to either IRB Co-Chairs: