Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Research Essentials – IRB Rights of Human Subjects Training Guidebook

This training manual offers in-depth, supplementary information to the IRB Podcast. It covers Dallas Theological Seminary’s guidelines, defines key terms, outlines research procedures, and discusses federal guidelines for conducting ethical, reliable, and valid research.

It is imperative that all survey research adheres to DTS Core Values and the following Belmont Report principles: beneficence, non-malevolence, justice, and respect by upholding the rights of human subjects.

The Institutional Research & Effectiveness: Research Essentials Guidebook provides a high-level overview of the precepts outlined in the Belmont Report, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Rights of Human Subjects Common Rule.

This serves as a comprehensive complement to the IRB Podcast, offering a detailed explanation of the protocols required by Dallas Theological Seminary for conducting ethically sound, reliable, and valid research while safeguarding the rights of human subjects.

The below presentation provides a detailed overview of the rules and ethics for all research conducted at Dallas Theological Seminary.

IRB Doctoral Research

• DMin/DEdMin Student Handbook 2022-23
• EdD Student Handbook 2022-23
• Dissertation Guidelines Handbook

IRB Application Guidelines

• IRB Protocol
• IRB Liaison Agreement
• IRB Application

IRB|HRRC Committee Policies & Procedures

• IRB Policies & Procedures
• HRRC Policies & Procedures

Ethical and Appropriate Use of Technology and Research Resources

During the 2022–23 academic year the seminary added the following AI-related language to our plagiarism policy: “using text written by a generation system as one’s own (e.g., entering a prompt into an artificial intelligence tool and using the output in a paper).” The seminary has also established clear guidelines for research involving human participants, all of which research must be reviewed by either the seminary’s Institutional Review Board (EdD research) or the Human Research Review Committee (DMin and DEdMin research). EdD students are trained on research with human participants in three courses, and DMin and DEdMin students receive training in their dissertation development seminar.

IRB Committee meets on an ongoing as needed basis in concert with the Office of Research & Effectiveness Monthly meetings. Dates are for example purposes only as meetings are coordinated in concert with DMIN, DedMIN, & EdD program candidate needs.

For more information about the IRB, please contact Dr. Jared Avery and Dr. Roderick Wills at the Institutional Research & Effectiveness office: [email protected]