This section of the Reliance Manual provides information pertaining to UW-Madison relying or ceding IRB review to another site, including: when we will do this, cede considerations, how-tos, cede agreements, follow-on submissions, and investigator responsibilities.


How You Can Help with the Cede Process

RELIANT supports study teams by facilitating the reliance agreement process with other institutions. When the agreements are in progress, we track them closely and reach out to the other institution if the process is not moving efficiently. You can play an important role in helping the process go as smoothly as possible.

An efficient reliance process depends in part on clear communication between the lead study team and study teams at all relying sites throughout the course of the study. Working with the lead study team early on regarding their IRB’s processes and procedures for adding and overseeing relying sites is important. Due to differences among institutional requirements and policies as well as experience with reliance processes, the reviewing IRB’s reliance process may differ from UW-Madison’s and involve additional steps from the most common approaches to documenting reliance. The lead study team is responsible for communicating these requirements as well as steps in the reliance process to you.

In addition to regularly communicating with the lead study team, you may also want to consider:

  • Reviewing information about the reviewing IRB’s reliance requirements and processes; most IRBs have this posted on their websites.
  • Reaching out to RELIANT when you have confirmed you will be a study site. We have experience with many external IRBs and are happy to provide you with any insights we have about the reviewing IRB and its processes.
  • Reviewing sections in this manual about developing consent and authorization documents as a relying site so you know what to expect when you prepare your cede request.

Follow-On Submissions for Cede Applications


  1. To Reviewing IRB
  2. To UW-Madison