Human Subjects Review Board

• All research involving the use of human research subjects (participants) must be reviewed and approved by the Hope College Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB) before the research can be initiated. To initiate review, complete an application and submit it to the HSRB for review. Call the HSRB chair, Dr. Mary Inman, 395-7148, for answers to questions regarding the HSRB or the HSRB review process. Follow the guidelines under "HSRB Review Procedure."
  
  
• If you received approval but want to continue the research past the expiration date (1 year from approval), federal guidelines require the HSRB to evaluate your project again, before you continue. Click here to see the guidelines for Continuing Research. If you continue without HSRB approval, you are in violation of federal laws and put all Hope researchers at risk!
  
  
• Additionally, proposals for funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH) should be sent to the HSRB. The HSRB will determine if exemption from human subjects is warranted. See Hope's Sponsored Research site for grant proposal information. To get a sense of whether your work is likely to be exempt, see the Frequently Asked Questions page. Six types of low-risk research are exempt from formal HSRB review.
  
  
• In addition to HSRB approval, it is necessary to take the "ethics in research" tutorial and certification through CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative), whether your work with humans is exempt or not. Sample tutorials are shown below to help you train your student researchers and to help you assess whether your work is categorized as "research."
  
  
• Click here to read the rationalization for the CITI tutorials and tests and to read more about exemptions.
  
  
• Some Hope staff have already taken their ethics training through the Cancer Institute (CI), which the HSRB deems as equivalent to CITI's training. Your training is good for 3 years. Submit proof of training (from CITI or the CI) along with your application to the HSRB. If we already have your certificate on file, note the date you completed your training on your HSRB application. When you take your refresher course in three years, please take the CITI course unless doing so violates other regulations that you are under.
  
• Teachers who want their students to only read certain parts of the CITI tutorial, can have their students click on the relevant tutorials below to see the material. Being "certified" means that a person has clicked on the CITI link, registered with Hope College, and successfully completed all tutorials and tests related to his/her discipline. Then CITI will notify Hope College and the person completing the test that the test taker is "certified."

CITI's "History and Ethical Principles"

CITI's "Defining Research with Human Subjects"

CITI's "Assessing Risk in Social and Behavioral Research "

CITI's "Informed Consent"

CITI's "Privacy and Confidentiality"

CITI's "HIPAA and Human Subject Research" (Biomedical research)

CITI's Social and Behavioral Research for Biomedical Researchers

CITI's Research in Public Elementary & Secondary Schools (FERPA law)

CITI's "Research with Children"

CITI's "What Every HSRB Member Should Know"