How We Schedule IRB Submissions for Convened IRB Review

Submissions that require review by a convened IRB (e.g., full IRB review) go through a pre-review process with an IRB analyst to help ensure that submission materials are complete, clear, and consistent. During pre-review, the IRB analyst sends comments to the research team in ARROW. When the analyst has reviewed research team responses to pre-review comments and the submission is review-ready, the IRB analyst schedules it for an upcoming panel meeting.

Generally, the goal is to schedule submissions to the earliest possible meeting date. Several factors influence scheduling:

• Meeting agendas are finalized one week prior to meeting dates, to provide IRB panel members time to review submissions in advance of the meeting. For scheduling purposes, this means that the earliest possible meeting date will be at least one week after a submission is review-ready.
• Analysts need time (typically a few days) prior to a scheduling deadline to review responses to pre-review comments. Follow up comments may need to be addressed before the submission is review-ready.
• When IRB analysts are aware that a study has a specific funding or other deadline, we make every effort to schedule the study for a meeting prior to that deadline. Study teams should specify any externally-imposed deadlines or urgency when submitting in ARROW.
• If review requires specific expertise, a study may be scheduled for a panel that includes that expertise.
• If the agenda for the next meeting date is lengthy, a study may be scheduled for a later meeting.
• Deferred submissions are typically reviewed by the same panel as the original submission. For example, if Panel B defers a new study or change of protocol, the deferral response will be scheduled for the next Panel B meeting.

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