Scientific Review Committee

Scientific Review Committee

Welcome! Have you completed the IRB application using the new iRIS system? The first thing to do once you have completed the IRB application is to download it using the 'print-friendly' button. From there, email the PDF of the IRB application to the Chair of the Scientific Review Committee at mse_src@byu.edu so that it can be reviewed by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). At this stage, two members of the committee will review the Institutional Review Board (IRB) application for scientific merit. Our goal is to have this review completed within five working days. Once the study has been approved, the Chair of the Scientific Review Committee will send an SRC checklist (signed by the two reviewers and SRC chair) to the Principal Investigator (PI). Upload this checklist with the other attachments to the IRB application and submit to the IRB for review. Note: If you forget to have your IRB application reviewed by the SRC committee, the IRB will send your application back to you to have this step completed.

Are you a chair of a thesis or dissertation committee? The process works a bit differently. Please follow the steps below:

1. If the study is for an official thesis or dissertation, the study needs to be officially approved first by the thesis/dissertation committee.
2. Once the study has been approved for scientific merit by the thesis/dissertation committee, the chair and the student will then complete the IRB application using the IRIS online system together. This ensures that the study described in the IRB application is what was approved by the committee.
3. Next, the chair will download a PDF of the IRB application to send to the chair of the SRC Committee, the Chair of the Scientific Review Committee, along with the SRC Checklist that has been signed by the Committee Chair. Please send these two items to: mse_src@byu.edu

Background of the Scientific Review Committee

The MSE Scientific Review Committee (SRC) was created following a request made by the BYU Institutional Review Board (IRB) and was formed under the direction of The Dean of the McKay School. The role of the SRC is to review each IRB application to determine the scientific merit of the proposed research study. This includes a review of the research questions, hypothesis/objectives, rationale for the study, sample size, teacher/school partnership arrangements, timeline/resources, etc. It is important that you be explicit in your IRB application about this information as it will speed up the process.

Two faculty members from each department will review the IRB application. Once the study has been approved, a signed SRC checklist is sent to the PI; the PI then submits the signed SRC checklist and the IRB application (and all materials associated with the study) to the IRB. Once the signed SRC checklist and IRB application/materials have been received by the IRB, the members of the IRB will review the study as it relates to risk, confidentiality, compliance with regulations, electronic storage procedures, participant enrollment/involvement, etc.

Important Information

Some IRB applications will be undergoing a “renewal,” meaning that these studies are currently underway and an IRB application needs to be resubmitted and reviewed by the IRB to verify compliance with new regulations and to address issues of risk, electronic storage procedures, verification of minimum age of 18 for adult studies, etc. The SRC will NOT be reviewing these “renewal” applications as they have already been reviewed for scientific merit during the first submission. PIs are encouraged to submit these renewals to the IRB directly.

Members of the SRC are as follows:

Please see the two documents below. The first document describes the SRC procedures and the other document is the SRC checklist that SRC members will use to review each IRB application.

•   Scientific Review Committee Flow Chart
•   Scientific Review Checklist

Are you ready to have your IRB Application and study materials reviewed by the Scientific Review Committee? Please submit these materials to mse_src@byu.edu. Our goal is to complete our scientific review within five working days.