Step 3: Help students understand the basics of the HPRB process
The online HPRB application process in Mentor will have students:
Here is an overview of the process:
Mentor will walk students through a series of questions to:
- get essential information about their projects and the investigator(s);
- determine whether projects are considered “research” requiring HPRB review, and if so, what level of review (exempt, expedited, or full board; see below); and
- obtain specific information regarding the research methods that will be used.
Specifics of using Mentor to provide comments, approve your students’ proposals with your electronic signature, and submit them to the HPRB are covered in Step 6.
Please ask your students to answer all questions using clear, concise, self-explanatory language, so that the Unit Designates in your school/division, who may not be familiar with their specific topics, will readily understand their projects.
Instruments, Research Materials, Stimuli
The HPRB needs to review and approve all study materials, including copies of surveys, stimuli (e.g., pictures, scenarios, video clips), interview questions, instructions, scripts, etc.
Debriefing
The HPRB needs to review and approve the debriefing script or text that will be shared with participants at the end of the study. The goal of the debriefing is to thank participants, inform them about the goals, methods, and hypotheses of the study, tell them how the results will be used, ensure that participants leave in the same state in which they arrived, and provide additional information or resources. Like the consent form, the debriefing should be written in language understandable to the participants.
Students can use this debriefing template or design one of their own.
The HPRB will have additional questions and concerns for certain types of projects. If this is the case, Mentor will direct students to complete a supplemental form before they may submit their application for review.
Currently, we have supplemental forms for:
- Research with children
- International research and/or research non-English-speaking participants
Once your students have completed the HPRB proposal sections and uploaded all project documents (recruitment, consent, instruments, debriefing) in Mentor, they will need to have you (or another Faculty Supervisor) review all your materials. At the top of their proposal page they will see a button to Submit Proposal to Faculty Supervisor. This will initiate an email request to you to review and sign off on the proposal.
As a Faculty Supervisor, you can provide comments for your students right in Mentor (in each proposal section) and can make edits in any of their uploaded documents (e.g., by using the Review function in Word). You may send the proposal back to them for further revision.
When this back-and-forth editing process is complete, you will need to provide your electronic signature that will officially submit your student’s proposal to the HPRB for review.