Protocol Submission (eIRB)

Michigan Tech’s eIRB Cayuse system is used to submit and manage all human subject protocols. Please use the following instructions below to assist in login and protocol management. For any questions regarding the eIRB system, please contact irb@mtu.edu.

Getting Students into the System

Active MTU faculty and staff should automatically have access to Cayuse. However, students who have not previously used the system must first fill in a request for access form, which typically takes a couple of days to process. Without doing this they will not be able to log in, and they will not be searchable as potential personnel to add to a study.

Logging In

To access Cayuse, go to the Cayuse login page and enter your MTU single sign on ID and password. Once you are logged in, go the to the "Products" dropdown menu toward the upper right hand corner, and select "Human Ethics" (Cayuse's name for the IRB system).

Cayuse Human Ethics (IRB) Guides for Researchers

See instructions for specific tasks below, or download them all in one document at eIRB Guide. There is also a detailed "walkthrough" of the new protocol submission fields available at eIRB Walkthrough.

Additional Cayuse Training Support

Please contact irb@mtu.edu for assistance with your submission. Also please note additional tutorials and support is available through the Cayuse Help Center.

Information Needed for Submissions

Personnel

A list of all research team members.
Details concerning any non-MTU members.
Statements about any conflicts of interest.
Proof of each team member's ethics training. Visit Training (ADD LINK) for the required CITI courses. NOTE: CITI training records will be automatically connected to if your CITI account uses your @mtu.edu email address.

Basic Information

Details of any project funding.
Information on generally where and when the research will take place.
Details of any necessary arrangements with outside organizations.

Rationale

A statement of the overall aim of the project, and the research questions involved.
A brief review of past scholarly work that justifies the project.

Recruitment

A description of the kinds of people to be involved as human subjects (including age ranges and any special inclusion/exclusion criteria).
Details concerning where, when, and how these people will be found, selected, and recruited (including the wording of any recruiting "scripts" to be used: visit Recruiting Subjects for instructions).

Procedures

Details of what the people will have to do, as well as where and when this will happen, and how long it will take (including any "instruments" involved, e.g. questionnaires, instructions, and interview protocols).
Description of the kinds of information, data, and/or specimens that will be collected.
Safety information about any drugs or medical devices involved.
Details of any incentives to be used, as well as any deception (including how any deceived subjects will be debriefed afterwards).

Data Handling

Description of how the results of the research will be handled and stored.
Description of how they will be analyzed.
Details concerning any storage or archiving of data for use in future projects.

Risks and Benefits

Description of any benefits to the subjects involved (often there are no direct benefits).
Listing of any potential physical, psychological, or social/legal risks involved (not just during the research itself, but also during recruitment, and after the research is complete. The latter often concern confidentiality).

Safety Procedures

Details of any safety monitoring procedures.
Details of any resources and procedures should anything go wrong.
Description of how communications and data handling/storage will prevent breaches of confidentiality (if that is an issue).
Description of how reporting of the results will be done in a way that maintains confidentiality (if that is an issue).

Informed Consent Procedures

Description of how and when subjects will have the project described to them, and be allowed to freely decide if they want to take part.
Justification of any departures of these procedures from normal MTU HRPP standards (visit Waiving Consent or Documentation of Consent for types of "waiver").
Details of the verbal scripts or written forms involved (visit Obtaining Consent for an explanation).