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Institutional Review Board Procedures for Business Research
Research activities that involve human subjects must be reviewed and approved by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). External funding to the University could be withdrawn if a research project—even one that is not externally funded—does not comply with the IRB requirements.
Moreover, some academic journals now require proof of IRB approval before publishing research papers involving human subject. The following list outlines the IRB application process for business research involving human subjects.
IRB Application Process for Business Research
- The IRB must review all research activities involving human subjects.
- In order to be approved to conduct research on human subjects all researchers must first complete the IRB Education and Certification Program required modules, including Module I: Research Integrity, and Module 2b (Social/Behavioral): Human Subject Research. These modules must be completed before an IRB approval can be issued.
- Most business research is classified as “exempt” by the IRB. Nonetheless, business researchers are still required to go through the IRB process for exempt studies.
- Researchers who believe their research fits an exempt category must submit a completed application to the IRB. This application is reviewed by the Exempt Review Team who determines if the study meets the criteria for an exemption.
- All IRB submissions must be made through OSIRIS.
Required Training
Before accessing OSIRIS, you must have completed two online education training modules: Research Integrity and Human Subjects Research. Once you have completed the required modules, it will take approximately 24 hours for OSIRIS to be updated before you will be authorized to log onto OSIRIS and start the submission application process.
For more information about the IRB application process, OSIRS, and training and exemptions visit Pitt’s IRB Web site.