Give your IRB committee a structured, complete application every time. This template walks researchers through PI contact details, study design, recruitment procedures, data collection methods, and key ethical considerations — reducing back-and-forth and accelerating review timelines for your ethics board.
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Institutional Review Board applications are notoriously time-consuming to compile — and just as time-consuming to review when submissions are incomplete or inconsistent in format. A structured digital IRB application form solves both problems simultaneously: it guides researchers through every required disclosure section in a logical sequence, and it delivers consistently formatted submissions that ethics reviewers can process more efficiently.
This template covers the three core areas of any IRB review: study design (what you're doing), participant management (who you're involving and how), and ethical considerations (what risks exist and how you're mitigating them). Each long-text field is labeled with specific content expectations so researchers know exactly what to include — reducing the most common reason applications are returned incomplete.
formformform is well-suited for smaller institutions, independent ethics committees, and departments that don't yet have a dedicated research management information system. The form can be embedded on an intranet, distributed via email to researchers, or linked from an institutional research portal. All submissions are collected in a single dashboard, making it easy for the review committee to track applications through the queue.
Use your own copy to change labels, remove questions and add the details you need. Try the preview alongside this guide to see what respondents will be asked.
Review the starting questions and choices. You can change them in your own copy.
Dr. Alexandra Chen
pi@university.edu
(555) 123-4567
University of Example, Department of Psychology
Full official title of your research study
Prof. James Liu — leave blank if PI is faculty
Describe the purpose of your study, the research questions or hypotheses, and the expected scientific contribution...
Describe how participants will be identified, recruited, and how informed consent will be obtained. Include details about participant eligibility criteria...
Describe step-by-step how data will be collected, what instruments or tools will be used, how long each session will take, and what participants will be asked to do...
Suggested uses, and why this starting point can help. Adapt the questions to your own process.
Give participants a clear set of questions and keep the information together, making it easier to prepare, respond and follow up. Review “Institution or Organization” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Use this as a starting point when you need the same essential information from each person. Review the questions against your process before sharing your copy. Review “Study Title” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Captures local ethics committee approvals, cultural sensitivity considerations, and data transfer agreements for a multi-country research partnership.
Collect answers in a consistent structure, so you can compare responses while keeping each person’s explanation in context. Review “Study Type” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Gather the details needed before making arrangements. Consistent answers help you spot special requirements and prepare the next step. Review “Research Objectives” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Get a useful brief before the first conversation. Written context helps you assess fit, prepare questions and decide what to discuss next. Review “Participant Recruitment Method” in particular and adapt it to the detail you need.
Collects researcher details and interview protocol for a qualitative study examining lived experiences of a marginalized community, flagging potential deception or power dynamic concerns.
Captures local ethics committee approvals, cultural sensitivity considerations, and data transfer agreements for a multi-country research partnership.
Click 'Use this template' to set up the form with all standard IRB application fields pre-loaded.
Update the intro paragraph with your specific IRB committee name, submission deadlines, and contact information for the research office.
Customize the 'Study Type' dropdown options to match your institution's recognized research design categories.
Add any institution-specific fields required by your IRB protocol — funding source, co-investigator names, expected study end date, etc.
Set the form notification email to go to your IRB coordinator's inbox so applications are reviewed promptly.
Publish the form and link it from your institution's researcher portal, intranet, or research office website.
tell researchers exactly what the form covers, how long review takes, and what supplementary documents (consent forms, instruments) to email separately.
broad prompts like 'describe your study' produce inconsistent responses; targeted labels like 'Participant Recruitment Method' guide researchers toward the content reviewers need.
student research without faculty oversight is a common IRB concern; capturing advisor information upfront surfaces this early.
vague answers like 'stored securely' don't satisfy most IRB requirements; the dropdown format forces researchers to specify institutional versus third-party storage.
set up the submission notification so the full committee (or its chair) receives each application immediately upon submission.
as your institution's research areas evolve, periodically update the study type dropdown and ethical consideration fields to stay current with emerging research methods.
Collects researcher details and interview protocol for a qualitative study examining lived experiences of a marginalized community, flagging potential deception or power dynamic concerns.
Documents the specific deception employed, the debriefing script, and the psychological risk mitigation plan for an experiment involving false feedback to participants.
Captures study design details for surveys involving only anonymous, non-sensitive questions that may qualify for exempt status under 45 CFR 46.104.
Documents device description, safety data, participant risk assessment, and adverse event reporting procedures for a first-in-human device study.
Describes the existing dataset, data access agreement, de-identification status, and analysis plan for research using previously collected health records or census data.
Outlines recruitment strategy, moderator guide, audio recording consent plan, and confidentiality protections for a qualitative focus group study.
Details the multi-year follow-up plan, re-consent procedures for new data collection waves, and data retention and destruction schedule for a longitudinal behavioral study.
Documents co-researcher community member involvement, power-sharing arrangements, and community benefit plan for a participatory action research project.
Captures local ethics committee approvals, cultural sensitivity considerations, and data transfer agreements for a multi-country research partnership.
Documents age-appropriate assent procedures, parental consent process, and additional protections for research involving participants under 18.
Describes the voluntary participation safeguards, coercion mitigation measures, and additional IRB subcommittee review requirements for research with incarcerated individuals.
Captures dataset provenance, bias assessment procedures, model output risks, and privacy implications for research involving AI training on human behavioral data.
This form can serve as a digital intake mechanism for IRB applications, replacing paper or email submissions. For full research management system functionality — tracking review status, storing decision letters, and managing amendments — you would pair it with your institution's existing workflow tools.
formformform forms support file upload fields that you can add to the template, allowing researchers to attach their consent form, survey instrument, or interview guide directly with the application.
Yes. formformform can send a customized confirmation email to the researcher's email address after submission, acknowledging receipt and providing next steps or estimated review timelines.
Yes. You can duplicate the form and create two versions — one for full board review and one for expedited or exempt review — each customized with the appropriate fields for that review pathway.
For amendments, you can create a separate amendment form that collects the study ID, amendment description, and affected protocol sections. Alternatively, researchers can resubmit the full form with changes noted in a dedicated 'changes from prior submission' field.
Collect informed consent from research participants with full IRB-ready detail.
Collect participant data for academic studies with informed consent built in.
Screen potential clinical trial participants for eligibility quickly and compliantly.
Log experimental measurements, sample details, and lab observations digitally.
Collect conference abstract submissions with presenter details and topic tracks.
Log field observations, species counts, and environmental data digitally in the field.
Collect participant experience feedback after a research study session.
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