Undergraduate's Guide to Creating & Communicating Research

Start by logging in to SHSU's Cayuse Research Suite

1. Click on Products

2. Click on Human Ethics

3. Click on the New Study button

4. Enter a clear and concise title describing your project

5. Click on the blue checkmark to confirm

6. Click on the "New Submission" button

7. Click on Initial

8. Click on Edit this submission

9. Here is where you will begin entering details about your study (see the walk-through on the next tab for details). You can always save a draft and come back to work on it another time.

10. When you revisit Cayuse Human Ethics in the future, you will see a list of "My Studies" where you can click on the title to resume editing your draft study.

11. After you choose the study title, you will have to click on the Submissions tab...

12. ...and click to open the "Initial" submission that you had begun drafting.

13. Click on Edit this submission to resume entering details about your study

Begin by opening the Initial Submission for your project in Cayuse Human Ethics

1. Read all details on the Application Information page CAREFULLY, including (but not limited to) the fact that all project personnel must have completed the appropriate CITI human ethics training.

If you (or any collaborators) have not completed CITI, you will need to do so BEFORE you complete this submission.

2. The application details explain to look for a white checkmark beside each application section in the blue menu.

If a section does not yet have a checkmark, you have an incomplete item somewhere in that section.

3. After you have read all details CAREFULLY, click the button to certify your understanding.

4. Click on the arrow at the lower right to go to Section 1.

5. The first field asks for the Primary Contact and likely already lists you as the creator of the submission. Verify that this is correct for this project -- that you want all IRB communication to come to you.

6. The next question asks who the actual Primary Investigator (PI, or head researcher) will be. Click the "Find People" button to select the appropriate person.

This might be you! Or it might be your faculty advisor, or even another student collaborator. Think carefully about your situation and "who is ultimately responsible for the conduct and oversight." If you are unsure who to enter, ask your faculty advisor.

7. Enter a name (yours or another) to search for.

8. Press Enter or click the magnifying glass to search.

9. Click to select the correct name from those listed.

10. Click on SAVE

11. Based on who you selected above as the PI, click the correct button to describe that PI's role at SHSU. If you are the PI, you will choose Student.

12. A note will inform you that student PIs must have a faculty sponsor, who must be identified in this IRB submission.

13. Click on FIND PEOPLE…

14. Enter a name to search for.

15. Press Enter or click the magnifying glass to search.

16. Click to select the correct name from those listed.

17. Click on SAVE

18. Indicate whether your faculty sponsor has up-to-date CITI training on record with SHSU's Office of Research. If you aren't sure, ask your sponsor!

19. Select whether this is a class project that will only last for a semester...

20. ...Or whether this project will be longer-term, towards your thesis or dissertation.

21. If you have other collaborators INSIDE of SHSU, such as other student researchers, click Yes and identify them here.

Anyone who was already identified in Section 1 does NOT need to be added again here.

22. If you are collaborating with any other researchers OUTSIDE of SHSU, click Yes and identify them here. This will not be common for most student projects.

23. If this is the first time this project has been proposed to any IRB (at or outside of SHSU), click No. If this project has been proposed before AND BEEN REJECTED, select Yes.

For past disapprovals, you will need to provide details and documentation.

24. If you have secured grant funding, or intend to apply for funding, indicate that here. This DOES include grants from within SHSU, such as a EURECA or ORSP grant.

Note that if a funding application is pending but not yet decided, you will mark Pending, but then you will also eventually need to send the IRB an update when that funding application is either received or rejected.

25. Enter the date AT LEAST two weeks in the future (or further) when you expect to start collecting data for this project, if it is approved.

26. Click on the arrow at the lower right to go to Section 2.

27. In this field, enter your research question(s), hypothesis, or a clear, concise statement of the research purpose. If you are completing a thesis or dissertation, the purpose/questions here should match those in your thesis or dissertation.

Note: Do NOT include explanatory background of the problem or literature in this field. Just state clearly and concisely the overall question or phenomenon you are studying and what you hope to learn about it.

28. Your project summary in this field will SUMMARIZE what would be the introduction/background and literature review in your complete paper. This is where you should briefly explain the context and importance of your research question for someone who is not yet familiar with it.

Do not cut and paste full sections from your thesis or dissertation; this should be a very short summary. Cite only the 3-4 most crucial publications to support what you will be doing and why.

29. Are you deliberately seeking to collect data from outside the U.S.? If so, additional regulations may apply.

If the answer to this question is Yes, be prepared to provide additional details about what country or countries your data will come from and whether you have identified their equivalent of an IRB for approval of your research.

30. If this research will be applied to support a thesis, dissertation, presentation, publication, or similar, select YES for this question.

If your project will not be applied in ANY way that contributes to generalizable knowledge, then it may not qualify as "research" as defined by federal regulations, and you may not need IRB approval. You are encouraged to call the SHSU IRB office and ask for clarification or guidance.

31. In most disciplines, student projects are unlikely to involve deception -- not being truthful with your research participants -- but if that applies to your study, you must indicate it here. This will trigger a more rigorous review of your proposal.

32. Indicate whether you will be working with vulnerable populations such as those listed. Again, answering Yes to this question will trigger a more rigorous review to ensure participant safety.

33. A Certificate of Confidentiality will most often NOT apply to student research projects. If this applies to you, it is likely something that you and your faculty advisor have already discussed.

If you are uncertain, speak with your advisor or the SHSU IRB for clarification. Answering yes here will trigger a more rigorous review of your proposal.

34. Unless your methods involve a DEXA scan, select NO for this question. Answering yes here will trigger a more rigorous review of your proposal.

35. If you will be interacting with your human participants in some way -- whether through face to face conversation, email, online survey, syringe, blood pressure cuff, etc. -- you will answer NO to this question.

You should also answer NO if you will be observing participants, with or without interaction, in a PRIVATE place. Note that a "public school" is a "private place" for the purposes of this question.

If you will be sitting in a PUBLIC place like a park and watching people without interaction, you may need to choose YES here. You will likely not need to enter any more information about your project or receive IRB approval, if you are not actually interacting with human participants.

36. Most research projects that require IRB approval involve interacting with human participants in some way -- whether through face to face conversation, email, online survey, syringe, blood pressure cuff, etc. If that's your case, choose YES here.

There are some exceptions to this, for example if you are conducting secondary research with identifiable private information or biospecimens whose collection was unrelated to this project. If your research falls under one of these exceptions, and you are truly NOT interacting with human participants, then choose NO here. You will then answer accordingly to the question 4 regarding secondary research, and you will need to complete an additional application section detailing the secondary data source and the original purpose for its collection.

37. If your research only involves analyzing a public dataset in which participants are unidentifiable, you will not require IRB approval; select Yes here. Otherwise, select NO to continue pursuing IRB approval.

38. As discussed above, if you are doing secondary research with identifiable information or specimens, select Yes here. Otherwise, select NO.

39. If you are conducting ONLY an anonymous online survey, choose Yes here. This will trigger creation of a new section in the application that will ask you more detailed questions to ensure anonymity of the survey.

If you are NOT conducting an online survey, or it is not online and anonymous, select No instead.

Note: For logical consistency, if you select Yes here, you also should have selected Yes above for "interaction or intervention."

40. If you are not conducting interviews at all, your answer to question 6 will be NO. If you are: Ask yourself whether the data could be traced to a participant, and answer Yes or No accordingly.

If you answer Yes:

You will be asked further whether or not you consider this activity "benign" (brief, painless, not invasive or embarrassing). If you are unsure, definitely click on the question mark icon to read more details about benign interventions. Check with your faculty advisor if you find you still need clarification.

You will also be asked again whether your study involves deception, or being untruthful with participants.

41. Click the arrow at the lower right to on go to Section 3.