Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Definition

The IRB is an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited for participation in activities such as biomedical and behavioral research.

Related terms

Ethics: The moral principles that govern a person's behavior or conducting of an activity; in research, it involves ensuring respect, integrity, and care for participants.

Human Subjects Research: Any research or clinical investigation that involves human beings as study participants.

Peer Review: A process by which a scholarly work (such as a paper or a research proposal) is checked by a group of experts in the same field to make sure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted.