A recent online edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education includes an article on the IRB review process, and how to “Play it Safe” - ensuring that valuable research contributions are not blocked from entering professional communication channels (journals, books, presentations, etc.). This article also addresses common complaints (often heard here at Penn State) regarding the IRB process - such as the issue of regulatory overkill in the case of secondary data usage. However, please be advised that while the process can be at times both cumbersome and seemingly unnecessary - rules are indeed, still rules.

Excerpt: “Whatever your thoughts on the wisdom of current practices, be aware that these boards are powerful. They can prevent you from publishing data gathered for a project that was not submitted for consideration. They cannot grant retroactive approval for a project already under way. You might have to forfeit all data collected during your preapproval activities.”

Full text of the article available here.