Institutional Review Board (IRB)

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the administrative body that supports, facilitates and promotes the ethical conduct of research involving human participants at Farmingdale State College-SUNY (FSC). Our mission is to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants. No involvement of human participants in research, including recruitment, is permitted until the IRB has reviewed and approved the research protocol.

The IRB offers services in support of research and compliance with Federal, State, and Institutional regulations governing human participant protections including:

Review of Research
Individualized Research Protocol Development Meetings (To request a meeting, email IRB@farmingdale.edu)
Workshops and Events (See Events below)
On-Line Training (See Human Participants Research Training Information below)

Projects which involve the collection of data from human participants may require review by FSC’s IRB prior to data collection. Projects that involve opinion surveys, educational tests, focus groups and other data collection methods are likely to require IRB review.

A key factor of whether a project is considered research with human participants requiring IRB review is whether the purpose of collecting the data is to answer a universal question that would apply “outside the walls” of FSC. If the data are collected solely for internal FSC evaluation (such as internal course evaluation or college policy assessment) it is not considered generalizable knowledge and does not require IRB review. However, if the data have any relevance to answer research questions outside of FSC, it is considered research with human participants and would require IRB review. In practical terms, if the data could lead to publication/presentation in any venue outside of FSC (conference presentation, scientific journal, educational journal, etc.) the project would require IRB review. Please note: the IRB does not provide retroactive approvals so if there is any possibility that the project may lead to information that would be presentable/publishable, the project must receive IRB approval before initiating protocol activities.

Please review the IRB Manual which provides a comprehensive overview of FSC’s Institutional Review Board including such topics as Review Procedures and Categories, Recruitment of Study Participants, Informed Consent, On-Going Review of IRB Approved Activities, External Research at FSC, Adjunct Professor Research Activities, Research Conducted at Other Institutions, Collaborative/Cooperative Research, FSC Student Researchers Procedures, Classroom Research Activities, and FERPA Guidance on Using Educational Records for Research.

If you believe that your project does not meet the definition of research, and thus would not require IRB review, you are still encouraged to complete/submit the IRB Research Questionnaire for an assessment by the IRB.

IRB protocols are submitted through Axiom Mentor. Click the button below and then click IRB at the top of the page:

Axiom

IRB protocols should be submitted at least one month prior to the researcher's planned data collection for Exempt and Expedited protocols and three months prior for protocols that do not meet the requirements for Exempt or Expedited review. Protocols that do not meet these requirements are reviewed by the Full Board.

Additional Documents:
IRB Form C: Researcher Conflict of Interest Questionnaire (External Researchers)
IRB Form J: Project Closure Form (Protocols reviewed prior to 9/1/20)
IRB Form M: External Research Request
IRB Research Questionnaire (See Does my project require IRB review?)
Site Permission Letter Template

All researchers must complete a human participants research training program. There is no charge to FSC Faculty, Students and Staff who complete training courses through the CITI Program.

CITI Program Website

FSC's CITI course options for research involving human participants have been revised. The new course options include:

Basic Social/Behavioral-Educational (Pedagogical) Research Course: Required for projects that solely qualify as Exempt Category 1 social/behavioral research. Relevant supplemental course modules relating to your research project also must be completed.
Advanced Social/Behavioral Research Course: Required for all other social/behavioral research involving human participants. Relevant supplemental course modules relating to your research project also must be completed.
Biomedical Research Course: Required for biomedical research involving human participants. Relevant supplemental course modules relating to your research project also must be completed.