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About
SBER

Social, Behavioral, and Educational Research IRB

The Social, Behavioral, and Educational Research IRB (SBER IRB) reviews research involving human research subjects to ensure regulatory compliance.

SBER IRB Guidance

Below you will find resources to help you learn more about Tufts University guidance that may be applicable to human subjects research, as well as guidance created by the Tufts SBER IRB Office to help you as you develop your projects and plan your submissions.

The Exempt Modification Guidance allows investigators to institute certain types of changes to exempt studies without submitting a modification request to the SBER IRB. This guidance will reduce the number of modifications that researchers need to submit to the IRB for review.

Please note: this guidance applies only to research that has received an exempt determination from the Tufts SBER IRB and does not apply to full board or expedited studies.

The Guidance for Participant Payment in Human Subjects Research provides guidance to Tufts researchers about when to provide payment to participants in human subjects research, what factors to consider when deciding if and what payment is appropriate, and what details to share with the SBER IRB with as part of a human subjects research submission

Guidance: Recruitment Materials in Human Subjects Research

This document provides guidance to Tufts researchers about content recommendations and guidelines related to human subjects research recruitment materials and University policies that impact what can and cannot be used as part of recruitment.

Guidance: International Research with Human Subjects

This document provides guidance to Tufts researchers who plan to conduct research with human subjects in international settings about their institutional responsibilities and their responsibilities within the host country or countries.

Guidance: Public Health Surveillance Activities (PHSA)

This document provides guidance to Tufts researchers about how to assess whether their work qualifies as a public health surveillance activity.  It also provides information on how to submit to the SBER IRB when the work could potentially be considered a public health surveillance activity.

Occasionally, research that focuses on the study of animals may also involve human participants. Consult the Guidance for Animal Research Requiring IRB Review to help understand the potential overlap between these types of research and when the study may need review by an IRB, in addition to the IACUC.