The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at SMU is a committee designated to review and approve Social, Behavioural and Educational research involving human participants. The purpose of the review process is to assess potential risks and benefits posed to human participants who are participating in research studies, so that appropriate steps can be taken to protect their rights and welfare.

This announcement is to update the SMU community about three policies approved by the SMU IRB committee.

1. Duration of IRB Approval

SMU IRB approval is valid for one year from the date of approval.

Researchers planning on conducting their projects for more than one year may submit extensions through a continuation or modification request prior to the approval expiry date.

Researchers whose applications have expired will need to submit new applications for IRB approval if they want to continue their projects.

The SMU IRB Secretariat will send reminders to the researchers whose IRB approvals are expiring soon to renew the research protocols if needed.

2. Requirements for Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Training

CITI training is compulsory for researchers submitting IRB applications and for all postgraduate research students.  IRB applications will not be processed until CITI training has been successfully completed.

The SMU IRB accepts CITI certification for training completed at other institutions as long as there is completion of the Social, Behavioural and Educational modules.  Faculty members and students who have taken their CITI training at other institutions may check with the SMU IRB Secretariat to assess whether their previous completion is sufficient to be accepted by the SMU IRB.

3. Requirements for Oral Informed Consent

Under certain circumstances, researchers may prefer to obtain oral informed consent instead of written informed consent. Currently, researchers are required to: (a) indicate in the IRB application form if they are obtaining oral informed consent, and (b) provide a script of the statements to be used in obtaining such oral informed consent from the participants.  In addition to these two current requirements, the SMU IRB now also requires researchers to keep a record of:

i. the date and time of the oral informed consent obtained;

ii. the human participant category, if applicable, and assigned code/ID number (e.g. subject #3); and

iii. the researcher’s signature.

Established since 2008, the SMU IRB is committed to adopting best practices on the protection of human subjects involved in research. The Board constantly reviews its policies and application procedures to seek improvements and is committed to keep the community abreast of IRB matters through various platforms.

If you have any questions about the policies announced above, please do not hesitate to contact the SMU IRB Secretariat at irb [at] smu.edu.sg.