About the Institutional Review Board

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) for San Francisco State University is charged with reviewing all research involving research volunteers to ensure that their rights are protected according to the federal regulations stated in 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 46 and 21 CFR Parts 50 and 56 (FDA policy).

The IRB at SFSU is composed of individuals from a number of units on campus, along with community members who are not affiliated with the university. IRB members are appointed by the Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Programs and the Dean of Graduate Studies with the concurrence of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate.

The IRB generally meets on the first Wednesday of each month during the fall and spring semesters. They also meet intermittently during the winter and summer sessions, as needed. For protocols that reach full committee review and are non-exempt, the turnaround time is four to eight weeks. For protocols that do not reach full committee review please see here.

Most of the protocols that the IRB reviews fall into the social and behavioral sciences category. The IRB include a number of qualitative researchers, as well as non-scientists and those engaged in quantitative research. Community members are included to provide a non-SFSU perspective on university research. The IRB cannot meet without at least one non-scientist present.

Here is the current SF State Academic Senate Policy regarding use of Human Subjects in Research at SF State.

IRB Review

Only non-exempt protocols are reviewed by the IRB. Determination of this review category is made by the committee staff and chair.
 

Please note that all protocols submitted to the committee go through a pre-review process and a revision cycle before being placed on a meeting agenda.
 

Protocols to be reviewed are provided to IRB members the week before the meeting, so they will have time to review. Protocols are pre-reviewed on a rolling basis, in the order in which they were received, and placed on an agenda when all revisions have been received and approved.

Institutional Review Board 2023-2024