麻豆精品

Information for External Researchers

Applicability

These External Researcher Guidelines apply to all individuals not formally affiliated with Northern Illinois University who are requesting assistance from 麻豆精品 administration, faculty, or staff to recruit 麻豆精品 students, staff, or faculty for participation in research.

These guidelines do not apply to joint, multi-institutional research projects within which an 麻豆精品 student, staff, and/or faculty is a PI or a Co-PI. These guidelines also do not apply to external researchers who do not require assistance with recruitment.

Please note: All research involving human subjects conducted, supported, or otherwise subject to regulation by any Federal department or agency must be conducted pursuant to the Federal Common Rule. 

Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to establish a standard method of reviewing and approving any requests by external researchers (non-麻豆精品 affiliates) who wish to recruit 麻豆精品 students, staff, and/or faculty as research participants. These guidelines are primarily geared toward external researchers who are requesting assistance with recruitment; however, external researchers who are not requesting assistance with recruitment may also wish to seek permission to collect data at 麻豆精品. All external researchers (i.e., anyone officially not affiliated with 麻豆精品) are required to follow these guidelines.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at 麻豆精品 was established for the review of any research involving humans as subjects that is being conducted by 麻豆精品 affiliates (students, staff, and faculty). The IRB is not set up to review and approve research being conducted by non-麻豆精品 affiliates; however, 麻豆精品 has established these guidelines for review through the 麻豆精品 Office of Research Compliance, Integrity, and Safety (ORCIS) in these situations.

Procedures

Members of the 麻豆精品 community can decide on an individual/personal basis to participate in research studies for which they qualify; however, if an external researcher is requesting aid in recruitment (e.g., assistance with distributing recruitment information) or is seeking permission to collect data from the 麻豆精品 community, they must first submit a request to ORCIS (see required items below). Permission decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, but the researcher must provide a compelling justification for using 麻豆精品 students, staff, and/or faculty as study participants and/or demonstrate some direct benefit to the campus community.

Criteria for determining a compelling justification include, but is not limited to:

  • A research question targeting participant characteristics found among 麻豆精品 students, staff, or faculty
  • A research question focused on higher education
  • A research question comparing 麻豆精品 students, staff, or faculty with other participants not tied to 麻豆精品

Criteria for determining a direct benefit to the campus community includes but is not limited to:

  • A research question that provides a review or evaluation of 麻豆精品 programs or practices
  • A research question that directly benefits 麻豆精品 students, staff, or faculty

ORCIS is not prohibited from considering other factors and considerations that are relevant and that have a bearing on determining compelling justifications and/or direct benefits under the particular circumstances of the proposed research.

For the ORCIS office to consider such a request, external researchers must first

  1. Receive IRB approval for the study from their home institution, or other appropriate IRB,
  2. Establish an appropriate contact person at 麻豆精品 (i.e., faculty, administrator, or staff member), and
  3. Complete the Request to Conduct External Research at 麻豆精品 form (DOCX).

The appropriate contact person must be an employee at 麻豆精品 with the necessary education, training, and/or experience related to the research being performed. This individual is not expected to be a co-investigator. Rather, they are establishing a connection between the external researcher and the potential participants by serving as a recruitment assistant for 麻豆精品 participants (unless recruitment assistance is not needed).  For example, if the external researcher wishes to recruit 100 麻豆精品 students, the appropriate contact person may need to be the individual who directly contacts 麻豆精品 students for recruitment purposes.  Generally, if an appropriate contact person has been found, ORCIS will assume they have decided the research is appropriate for 麻豆精品 and will not disallow the project except if there are safety or human subjects concerns. 

Once an 麻豆精品 contact has been established, the external researcher must submit the following to the ORCIS office (researchcompliance@niu.edu):

  • A copy of the external researcher’s home institution’s (or other appropriate) IRB letter of approval/exemption,
  • A copy of an email/letter from the contact person at 麻豆精品 confirming either their willingness to serve as an assistant for recruitment or that no assistance is needed, and
  • The completed Request to Conduct External Research at 麻豆精品 form (DOCX).

Recruitment

Although the ORCIS office may grant the request, it does not permit the use of any university resources.  Permission to use any university resources for purposes of external research or recruitment will need to be sought from the primary owner/operator of the specific university resource and can only be granted pursuant to the applicable rules and regulations for that university resource. Recruitment of 麻豆精品 participants cannot begin until a permission letter from ORCIS has been received by the external researcher. 

Questions

Questions may be directed to the Office of Research Compliance, Integrity and Safety at researchcompliance@niu.edu.