Institutional and Independent Review Boards

Abstract Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), or Independent Ethics Committees (IECs) as they are known around the world, are a cornerstone of the system of protections human research subjects. An IRB is a committee that functions as a regulatory and ethics review board for research that involves human subjects. In countries that regulate research in humans, IRBs/IECs are required to approve research studies prior to performing any research intervention, which includes screening, on any subject. In countries without research regulations, IRBs/IECs may also review research. This article focuses mainly on IRBs that are regulated by U.S. agencies.