Over the last several months, the Office of Research Integrity has focused on making improvements to the IRB application’s readability by reducing redundancies and

re-organizing some of the sections.

The tentative date for implementation is August 3, 2022. Putting this version (“V4”) of

E-IRB into production will affect what you see and experience as follows:

• E-IRB applications submitted to ORI/IRB before the implementation date will not contain the updates.
• This includes applications in the researcher’s Inbox (default Dashboard view) and on ORI’s or the IRB’s Dashboard. 
• After your application is approved, when you create a new Modification Request or a Continuation Review/AAR request, the application will convert to the updated version then.

• All E-IRB applications in draft and not submitted to ORI/IRB by the implementation date will automatically be converted to the updated E-IRB application. 
• No previously saved data will be lost;
• The researcher will need to go through the application and make sure all sections have a blue check mark next to them rather than a pencil. A blue check mark indicates the section is complete while a pencil icon signifies that additional information/verification is required. If any section in the application has a pencil icon next to it, it means there is missing information (e.g., a new question was added). The researcher will need to review the section and answer the required questions and save the section before being able to submit the application. 

At a minimum, the sections that will lose the check mark:

• Subject Demographics
• Informed Consent/Assent Process/Waiver
• Research Description
• Research Sites
• Research Attributes
• Additional Information

Additional changes in what you see in E-IRB include the log-in page and some of the menu selections on the researcher Dashboard. Another announcement will follow in the coming weeks with additional details and to confirm the implementation date. 

We look forward to getting the improvements underway!