Institutional Review Board

IRB at Millersville University

The MU IRB reviews all human subjects research for compliance with Federal regulations. MU has adopted the Belmont Report as its statement of ethical principles. This site provides guidance to anyone planning research involving human subjects under the aegis of MU.  

  • Unsure if your project requires IRB approval? Start here.
  • For a discussion of levels of human subject review, look here.
  • For a discussion of the Federal definition of research, look here.

Tip for preparing the online protocol: Respond to each section that requires text input as though you are answering a question from someone who has no knowledge of any other component of your protocol.

Plan on 30 days for completion of IRB review.

Please review the following protocol examples before beginning your own:

Undergraduate Example 1, Undergraduate Example 2, Undergraduate Example 3
Masters Example 1, Doctoral Example 1, Doctoral Example 2

Please use this template as a guide for writing your informed consent. For additional information on informed consents see this document and this document.

For additional assistance: 
  • Attend an IRB Faculty Session or IRB Student Session (see below). 

Use this ONLINE FORM to submit your protocol.

NOTE FOR RESEARCHERS CONDUCTING SURVEYS: Before beginning any on-campus survey research, please read the University survey research policy (Requires Login). Furthermore, if you are conducting survey research on- or off-campus, you are strongly urged to use Qualtrics, the University's survey software. Qualtrics provides secure, password-protected data storage and MUST be used if you are collecting personally identifying information. Finally, if you intend to advertise your survey via any University-wide mechanism, such as "Ville Daily, " you MUST coordinate with the Office of Institutional Assessment. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Jeffry Porter. 

NOTE FOR EDUCATION RESEARCHERS:  Due to the volume of Millersville education students undertaking research in local public schools, principals and school district administrators require the MU IRB to provide a full review of all protocols involving public school students. Furthermore, all protocols for school-based research requires a letter of support from the school principal or relevant administrator. This letter must accompany the protocol and must be printed on school letterhead.

All IRB applicants MUST complete CITI training in Human Subjects Research prior to submitting a protocol.  A current CITI certificate is also required for each co-investigator.

CITI Certificates must renewed every three years.  Protocols will not be approved pending completion of CITI training. 

Allowing your CITI certifcation to lapse during your study will invalidate your study and prevent publication of results.

citi

 CITI Training is now available for IRB and IACUC.  Press the button above to set up an account or click HERE to start.

if you have questions about which CITI course you should take, contact MU-IRB@millersville.edu