IRB between institutions

[Levon3]

I'm trying to do a research project in partnership with a researcher at another institution. I submitted my IRB application and got it approved before my collaborator did. Mine is categorized as expedited but he just heard back that his is exempt. So under my IRB, participants must sign consent forms and mail them back, but under the other institution's, all they need to do is check yes on a survey. I called my IRB to try to find out how we can get these to be reconciled, and they basically said they don't care what the other institution does, that's how mine has to be done. 

It seems that if my collaborator moves ahead with consent via survey checkbox, I'll no longer be able to work on the project (which I designed). Does anyone else have experience partnering with researchers at other institutions? Do you have any advice for me?

[fuzzylogician]

Cant you just get participants to sign a consent form and also check yes in the survey? The other institution didn’t say your collaborator can’t have consent forms, just that they don’t need them. 

[Levon3]

Right, it's just that this is a virtual event, so getting people to mail back forms is extremely unlikely. Therefore, we'll likely get a whole lot more "yes"s on the survey than forms mailed back, which means if I continue on the project I'll be limiting the number of participants whose data we can collect.

[Levon3]

What I'm wondering is, how can I convince my IRB office to change the status of my approval from expedited to exempt using the fact that other institution's IRB office deemed it to be so? Has anyone had success with such a predicament?

[fuzzylogician]

2 hours ago, Levon3 said:

What I'm wondering is, how can I convince my IRB office to change the status of my approval from expedited to exempt using the fact that other institution's IRB office deemed it to be so? Has anyone had success with such a predicament?

Sadly in my experience IRB offices seem to not care at all about decisions made at other institutions. You might do better to find someone at *your* institution who has faced a similar problem. Or just sit with an advisor from the IRB office in person to discuss this, simply explaining that it’s a virtual event. They should understand that asking people to print and mail consent forms is very difficult. Maybe they can come up with another solution. See if the have office hours when you can stop by to consult with them about your application.

Another option, less happy but possible: you don’t withdraw from the project as a whole but just from handling any data. You should still be able to help with the design and write up, as long as your coauthor does all the data collection and analysis. That way you can stay on the project and paper. Hopefully your coauthor will agree and be understanding, if it comes to that. 

[Levon3]

Thank you, @fuzzylogician! 

[rising_star]

Yea, I would definitely try to talk to them in person. It seems kinda insane that anyone would expect signed and mailed hard copy forms to accompany an online method of data collection. Would it be possible to collect virtual signatures from your participants (e.g., type your name here to indicate agreement with the above consent form)?