You survived the proposal defense. Your committee gave you the green light. You are finally ready to send out your surveys and start interviewing people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you can\u2019t. Not yet. First, you have to face the Institutional Review Board (IRB)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IRB is the ethics committee that ensures your research does not harm human subjects. They are thorough, they are strict, and they are famously slow. For many doctoral students, submitting an IRB application feels like throwing a document into a black hole, only to get it back a month later with 15 required revisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At PhD America<\/strong>, we help students break out of this administrative holding pattern. If you want to start collecting data this semester, here are the 3 most common reasons the IRB will reject your application\u2014and how to avoid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Informed Consent form is the most heavily scrutinized document in your application. It is the contract between you and your participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the digital age, the IRB is terrified of data breaches. If you are collecting sensitive information, you must explain exactly how you will protect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. The “Jargon-Heavy” Informed Consent Form<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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2. Vague Data Security Plans<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n