Projects requiring Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval should have that section completed on Form 1B and, for projects involving human participants, Form 4 as well as Informed Consent for minors. You may either form your own IRB at your school or use the MSEF Scientific Review Committee (SRC) instead at MSEFOmahaSRC@gmail.com . Follow the ISEF Rules Wizard to determine if an IRB and/or SRC is required.
An IRB must consist of a minimum of three members including the following: (1) An educator (maybe you) (2) A school administrator (preferably principal or vice principal) (3) A medical (veterinarian for animal projects) or mental health professional. The medical or mental health professional may be a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, doctor of pharmacy, registered nurse, psychologist, licensed social worker or licensed clinical professional counselor. The medical or mental health professional on the IRB may change depending on the nature of the study. This person must be knowledgeable about and capable of evaluating the physical and/or psychological risk involved in a given study.
An SRC is a group of qualified individuals that is responsible for evaluation of student research, certifications, research plans and exhibits for compliance with the rules, applicable laws and regulations at each level of science fair competition. Most proposed research projects involving vertebrate animals and/or potentially hazardous biological agents must be reviewed and approved BEFORE experimentation. Local or regional SRC prior review is not required for human studies previously reviewed and approved by a properly constituted IRB. ALL projects, including those previously reviewed and approved by an IRB must be reviewed and approved by the SRC after experimentation and before competition in an Affiliated Fair. Projects which were conducted at a Regulated Research Institution (not home, high school or field) and which were reviewed and approved by the proper institutional board before experimentation, must also be approved by the MSEF SRC and need Form 1C.
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