The Institutional Review Board (IRB)

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an oversight committee established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects, especially society’s most vulnerable populations, recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the university’s name. The IRB is responsible for reviewing all research involving human participants to ensure its compliance with the ethical values of research. It has the authority to approve, disapprove, and request modification in research activities that fall within its jurisdiction.

The importance of the IRB

The importance of the IRB stems from its objectives listed below:

To assure that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating as subjects in a research study.
To protect human subjects from physical or psychological harm.
To ensure compliance with the ethical values of research.
To protect the rights of human subjects who participate in research conducted by faculty, staff, and students at PSUT.
To assess the risks and benefits of proposed research and ensure that risks to human subjects are kept to an absolute minimum and are justified by potential benefits of the research.
To ensure the confidentiality of information obtained from research subjects in compliance with national privacy laws.
To promote high quality research at PSUT and in Jordan in general.

What value does IRB review add to the research process?

The IRB provides an independent, unbiased review of research. It ensures ethical conduct and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and best practice. It does not allow individuals to be unnecessarily put at risk of harm, unless they consent, and proper protections are set in place to minimize risks.

For social and behavioral research, specifically, research on gender-sensitive issues, it is necessary to have an IRB composed of those with expertise, experience, and knowledge specific to gender research and social science.

A specialized gender IRB can assess the ethics of such research when revision of the research plan is required in order to adequately protect subjects and meet the IRB approval criteria.

Reference Material:

Belmont Report
The Common Rule (45 CFR 46)
The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program is a leading provider of research education content. Their web-based training materials serve millions of learners at academic institutions, government agencies, and commercial organizations in the U.S. and around the world.
Human Subjects Assurance Training
The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs promotes high-quality research through an accreditation process that helps organizations worldwide strengthen their human research protection programs (HRPPs).
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides leadership in the protection of rights, welfare, and well-being of subjects involved in research conducted or supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Since its founding in 1974, Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) has pursued two core goals: creating a strong and vibrant community of ethics-minded research administration and oversight personnel, and providing educational and professional development opportunities that give communities the ongoing knowledge, support, and interaction they need to raise the bar of research administration and oversight above regulatory compliance.

BOARD MEMBERS

An IRB committee must have at least five members with varying backgrounds in order to promote complete and adequate review of research activities:

FORMS

University

Academics

Quality Assurance

Centers / Units

Supportive Deanships