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The Federal interpretation of what qualifies as "human subjects research" is expanding, while compliance enforcement is tightening.

Any individual (inside or outside the College, including administrators, faculty, staff, or students) who desires to conduct any systematic investigation that involves obtaining any information about Valencia students or employees and plans to use that information as generalizable* knowledge must obtain official Valencia Institutional Review Board (IRB) clearance. There are three types of IRB review processes – exempt from review, expedited review, and full review – where research protocols are subjected to different degrees of scrutiny.

It is the investigator who self-determines whether his/her project qualifies as human subjects research, and whether an application should be submitted to the Valencia IRB. However, it is important to be aware that when conducting human subjects research involving Valencia students or employees, any investigator who elects not to apply for and receive a formal IRB determination from Valencia’s IRB is non-compliant with Valencia procedures. This means that the investigator’s research will not be protected from any risk or liability that IRB approval might have provided.

*generalizable - research data gathered by systematic investigation to be used in materials including but not limited to dissertations and theses, articles for publication and conference presentations