Policy Statement

All research conducted by or in collaboration with faculty members in the Psychology department must conform to APA Ethical Principles and established standards and guidelines of Missouri State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These committees have been established to protect the rights and well being of subjects who participate in research associated with the Department of Psychology and Missouri State University.

"Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge." (45 CFR 46).

1. APA Ethical guidelines require that all research be reviewed by other psychologists and thus, research projects should first be reviewed by the Departmental Committee (Russell Carney, Chair). Submit the Psychology Department Application and Missouri State's IRB Application to the departmental committee chair. The guidelines utilized for reviewing projects will be those established by the American Psychological Association as outlined in Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Research with Human Participants, 1982. All faculty should familiarize themselves with these Ethical Principles before conducting research with human participants.
2. "All research involving human subjects in any way, regardless of the source of funds, must be reviewed and approved by the Protection of Human Subjects Institutional Review Board before the activity is undertaken." (Missouri State Institutional Review Board Application) Time permitting, studies should be reviewed within the department prior to review by the university committee. This reduces the likelihood of the need for resubmission if any changes are made. However, concurrent review is acceptable.
3. The PSY 121 Research Subject Pool guidelines are attached. Remember that the approval of both committees is required before posting. Students who participate in experiments receive extra credit from their instructors. Thus, participation and debriefing should be intended to be a useful learning experience for the students. Student research assigned by an instructor as a course requirement may be conducted without formal committee review provided that:
   1. The research falls into the exempt category of the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines.
      
   2. The instructor submits to chair of the Psychology Committee and the university committee the Class Research Project Form (IRB-CL) certifying that he/she has reviewed guidelines of DHHS and that the study is exempt.