Role of the Institutional Review Board
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a body that protects the welfare and rights of human subjects recruited to participate in a study. Before initiation, IRB reviews all non-funded and funded research involving human subjects (GAO, 2023). IRB is authorized to disapprove, approve, exempt, monitor, and modify research activities within its jurisdiction as specified in institutional policy and federal regulations. Most IRBs are university-based according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data, while some are independent entities.
Peer-Reviewed Research Example
Serban et al. (2021) conducted a study titled "Making Childhood Obesity a Priority: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Professionals' Perspectives on Facilitating Communication and Improving Treatment." This research identifies facilitators and barriers in childhood-obesity-related communication as reported by healthcare professionals in Romania, where 1 in 4 children have excess weight.
Ethical Considerations
The ethical considerations in the study included:
- Informed Consent: All participants were informed about the research purpose, funding, benefits, and use of findings (Tulyakul & Meepring, 2020)
- Voluntary Participation: Participants were free to opt in and out at any time
- Confidentiality: Private information was not shared with other parties
- Anonymity: Identifiable information was not collected
References
- GAO. (2023). Institutional Review Boards. U.S. Government Accountability Office.
- Serban, C. L., et al. (2021). Making childhood obesity a priority. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 652491. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8321411/
- Tulyakul, P., & Meepring, S. (2020). Ethical issues of informed consent. Global Journal of Health Science, 12(3), 86. http://research.sdpublishers.net/id/eprint/2099/
Related: See our developing a PICOT question or EBP vs research in nursing.