October 05, 2015
Human Subjects Research guidelines available
As the new semester is well underway and research projects on campus are taking shape or finding new directions, the Human Subjects Committee (HSC) at SIU Carbondale is once again excited to work with the campus community to maintain the highest quality of research products. Human subjects research is conducted across all disciplines at the university, and the committee asks those of you working with human subjects in any aspect to review some general information before beginning a new project.
In order to comply with federal requirements, SIU Carbondale must file an assurance with the Office for Human Research Protections that commits the university to ensuring compliance with federal guidelines that govern human subjects research. In accordance with that assurance, research conducted by an university-affiliated investigator (faculty, staff, or student) involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by the Human Subject Committee prior to the commencement of the work. Use of human subjects data in publications or for presentation at conferences will require proof of institutional approval. The Committee cannot provide approval retroactively, so we encourage you to be proactive in your research planning and contact us early and often to navigate the process of applying to conduct research with human subjects. We are here to help!
Research, in the context of human subjects, can be broadly defined and may include seemingly innocuous activities, particularly when the identities of the participants are made public during publication or presentation of the research findings. In an effort to provide protections to our campus investigators as well as study participants, the SIU HSC has expanded upon the standard definition of research found in the federal guidelines to include all dissertations, theses, research papers, or other publications that will be made available through the OpenSIUC repository.
Federal regulations dictate that only the HSC can make a determination about whether a project involving human subjects is subject to human subjects protections, regardless of the discipline or the intent of the project.
Again, please contact the SIU HSC at siuhsc@siu.edu or 618/453-4533 with any questions. Committee members will be happy to provide guidance to help you meet your institutional compliance obligations.
Please share this information with your colleagues and especially students. For applications, training information, sample documents and more, visit our website.