Helpful Hints

Tell the IRB who, what, when, where, and how you plan to do everything.

Complete the UCF IRB protocol application electronically at https://iris.research.ucf.edu, route the application for appropriate approvals, and submit it with uploaded documents.

Reviews of new protocol submissions are being done almost daily with the new online submission system called iRIS™, but remember that the IRB Chair and other designated reviewers are also professors who have responsibilities which may at times prevent them from immediate turn around. The volume of submissions and how soon you respond and provide revised documents or clarifications will also affect the amount of time it takes to receive approval. The system has built-in generic email notifications which will alert you to log into iRIS to review the status of your study. Approval letters will be attached to an email notification after the final review/approval takes place. Do NOT automatically delete these iRIS generated emails. No letters will be sent by U.S. Mail, therefore, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you update your email address changes in your ARGIS account.

The expiration date of minimal risk studies will usually be 365 days from the approval date which is the maximum allowable by federal regulation. Please submit the Continuing Review Form at least one month in advance of the expiration date (submit 6 weeks before expiration date if the study was approved by full board review). In accordance with Federal regulations, IRB approval of your study will automatically expire if it is not renewed by the expiration date. Complete the Termination/Final Report form within iRIS when you have finished your analysis and completed the study so that it can be terminated. This keeps the IRB database up to date and prevents notifications from going out to investigators reminding them to renew a study that has been completed.

Approximately 99% of the new submissions and continuing reviews are minimal risk studies and are reviewed by the IRB Chair, Vice-Chair or designated reviewer through the expedited review process which means the studies do not have to be presented at a full board IRB meeting for review and approval. The full board meets, when needed, on the fourth Wednesday of the month. If the Chair determines that the study is greater than minimal risk or there are issues which the full board should discuss, the protocol will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting in that month if the protocol was received at the IRB office by the first working day of the month. Submissions received later than the first working day of the month will be placed on the meeting agenda for the following month.

If you plan to use a consent form or a waiver of documentation of consent, you are “recruiting”. Some investigators think they are not recruiting because they are just doing survey research and they already know who their participants will be or they plan to use a word of mouth process and not a flyer. For any of these activities, the question in the iRIS electronic protocol application asking if the study will involve recruitment should be answered “yes”. Additional questions to describe the population and methods of recruitment will then appear for you to answer.