Resources for Conducting Human Research
The Human Research Protection Program (HRPP/IRB) and the university research community follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and use checklists, worksheets and templates to guide the life cycle of human research at Virginia Tech.
Learn more below or use the navigation links in this section to view additional information and to download documents such as standard operating procedures, checklists, worksheets and templates which can guide you in writing your research protocol before you submit it the IRB.
To shorten the timeframe for approval of personnel changes to research protocols, the Human Research Protection Program has created a separate process for review and approval of personnel changes.
The change is on the administrative side of Personnel Management and researchers will not need to do anything differently nor will they notice a change in the system.
Researchers that are making personnel changes and other protocol changes should be aware that when a personnel amendment has been approved there might be other changes that are pending approval. When you receive your approval notification please review it carefully to determine what has been approved.
The Human Research Protection Program has implemented our new progress reporting form within Protocol Management. You will receive a notification from irb@vt.edu via Protocol Management when your progress report is due. Please read the e-mail carefully and follow the instructions.
Progress Reports are required as follows:
- Protocols approved as Expedited after January 2019– Annually
- Protocols approved as Exempt either before or after January 2019– Every 3-years
- If you have questions, please contact the protocol coordinator that has been assigned to the protocol. If a coordinator has not been assigned, please contact irb@vt.edu for assistance.
In general, amendments are only required for exempt studies if the changes made to the research could affect the determination of exemption.
Since studies that are determined to be exempt pose the least risk to participants, the Virginia Tech HRPP office will now only be requiring amendments if it is an exempt study with limited review or if the change meets one of the criteria outlined in this document. You can find out if your study is Exempt or Exempt with Limited Review by checking the Summary of the specific protocol in the IRB Protocol Management online system.
If you are unsure, whether an amendment is needed please contact the protocol coordinator that has been assigned to the protocol or send an inquiry to irb@vt.edu for assistance.