Student Classroom Research
Many research methods and other research courses on Marquette's campus require students to complete a research project. Some of these projects require review and approval by the Marquette Institutional Review Board (IRB), however, most do not.
The IRB is charged with reviewing projects involving human subjects that meet the federal definition of "research." Research is defined by Health and Human Services regulations as "a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge."
In general, the IRB considers projects that will be published, presented at a professional conference, used for a thesis or dissertation, or otherwise generally disseminated (such as on a web site) to contribute to generalizable knowledge. These projects therefore require IRB review and approval.
Student class projects that do not meet this definition do not require IRB review and approval.
If there is any doubt about whether a project requires IRB review and approval please contact the Office of Research Compliance at 414-288-7570 or orc@mu.edu. Please note that there are no provisions for retrospective approval under the federal research regulations.
Use the link below for a suggested consent template for student class projects. The template cannot be used for projects that require IRB review and approval.
