Compliance & Complaints

Complainant Protection Policy

The IRB is required to review allegations of misconduct and to take action to protect human subjects. Please contact the IRB Chair or submit a Participant Complaint Form if you have a concern about a research project. Reviewing complaints and allegations of noncompliance is critical to the IRB's ability to protect human subjects. A climate free of fear of sanction is required to foster appropriate reports and ensure a fair review of allegations. Retaliation against good faith “whistleblowers” is illegal and will not be tolerated at this institution.

Investigator Noncompliance

The IRB is required to review allegations of investigator noncompliance with IRB-approved proposals as well as federal regulations and college policy pertaining to human subjects research. The IRB also reviews allegations of misconduct that violate the rights of research subjects. Incidents of noncompliance will be reviewed by the IRB for corrective action appropriate to the incident. In all cases the IRB's primary concern will be to protect the welfare of the research subjects.

The IRB will report to the federal Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), and any other sponsoring federal department or agency head:

  • any serious or continuing noncompliance with the regulations or requirements of the IRB
  • any injuries to human subjects or other unanticipated problems involving risks to subjects or others, and any suspension or termination of IRB approval for research to appropriate institutional officials.

Investigator Conflict of Interest

Refer to the Smith College Conflict of Interest Policy.

Research Participant Complaint Form

As a participant in research conducted at Smith College or by a researcher affiliated with Smith College, you have the right to report any concerns you have about the way the research was conducted or possible misconduct by the researcher. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) will keep this report confidential and conduct an investigation if necessary. Please provide as much information as possible when completing the form.
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