Not Research/Not Human Subjects Research Request Form

The Tufts SBER IRB is very excited to announce the launch of the newly developed Not Research/Not Human Subjects Research (NR/NHSR) Determination Request form, which can be found on our “Forms & Templates” page.  This form should be used when an investigator believes that their work either does not meet the regulatory definition of “research” or involve “human subjects”, as defined by the regulations.  Please note: The use of the term principal investigator in the form does not imply the project is research; it is used to reflect language that will be found in the eIRB system.

Once completed, create a new study submission in eIRB and upload this document in place of a protocol when instructed to “Attach the Protocol” on the “Basic Study Information” page.  The Tufts SBER IRB will then evaluate your responses on the form and either issue a formal NR/NHSR determination or provide you with further instructions through eIRB.

Our hope is that this new form will help streamline the NR/NHSR determination process for investigators and demystify how the Tufts SBER IRB makes these determinations.  If you have any questions and/or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to the SBER IRB Office at sber@tufts.edu.  We want to hear about what works well and what could be improved in future iterations to ensure the form becomes a valuable tool for the Tufts social, behavioral, and educational research community.