Welcome to the Solutions IRB blog—where researchers find helpful advice, clarity on institutional review board processes, and real-world guidance to navigate their studies with confidence.

Appropriate Compensation for Research Participants

Compensating research participants for their time and effort is common in human subjects research. Compensation can recognize the time, travel, inconvenience, or effort involved in participating in a study. However, compensation should be carefully considered during study planning and clearly described in the materials submitted to the IRB. Researchers should consider whether the proposed compensation

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Exempt Category 1: Educational Research

Research conducted in a school or classroom does not automatically qualify for exempt IRB review. While certain educational research may qualify under Exempt Category 1, the research must meet specific criteria. The fact that a study involves students, teachers, schools, or educational activities is not enough on its own. Understanding what Category 1 covers can

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Exempt Category 2: Surveys, Interviews, and Educational Tests

Surveys, interviews, questionnaires, and observational research are common methods for collecting information in social and behavioral research. Because these activities may appear straightforward or involve minimal risk, researchers sometimes assume that they automatically qualify for exempt research. However, that is not always the case. Certain research involving educational tests, survey procedures, interview procedures, and the

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Exempt Category 4: Understanding Secondary Research

Secondary research is common across many areas of human subjects research. Researchers may use existing medical records, survey responses, databases, educational records, registries, or other previously collected information to answer new research questions. Because the information already exists, researchers sometimes assume that secondary research does not require IRB review. However, that is not always the

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Why the IRB Reviews Surveys and Questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are common tools in human subjects research. They can be used to collect information about attitudes, behaviors, experiences, opinions, health, demographics, and many other topics. Surveys may seem relatively simple compared with other research procedures, but the IRB still needs to see their full contents. The questions participants are asked—and how those

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How to Respond to IRB Reviewer Comments

Receiving comments or revision requests from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a normal part of the research review process. For researchers, however, an IRB revision request can sometimes feel overwhelming—especially when several changes are requested or when the reasoning behind a comment is not immediately clear. Understanding how to respond effectively to reviewer comments

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A Beginner’s Guide to IRB Submission

Submitting your first Institutional Review Board (IRB) application can feel overwhelming. Between preparing your study documents, understanding regulatory requirements, and ensuring everything aligns, it’s easy to wonder where to begin. The good news is that with a little preparation, the process becomes much more manageable. Taking the time to organize your study before submitting it

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Writing Participant-Friendly Study Materials

One of the most important parts of any research study isn’t the protocol, data collection plan, or statistical analysis—it’s the information participants receive. Whether you’re creating an informed consent form, recruitment flyer, survey instructions, or follow-up communications, your study materials should be written with the participant in mind. Clear, participant-friendly study materials help individuals make

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Conflicts of Interest in Research

Research depends on trust. Participants trust researchers to conduct studies ethically, institutions trust investigators to follow regulations, and the public trusts that scientific findings are based on objective evidence. One important way to maintain that trust is by identifying and managing conflicts of interest (COIs). A conflict of interest does not automatically mean that a

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