Human Subjects Approval

Human Subjects Approval is necessary when research projects involve human subjects. This is done to protect the rights and welfare of the human subjects.

Read First

All impact evaluations must be fully compliant with both local and international Institutional Review Boards (IRB).

Local IRB approvals vary by country; research local regulations when the impact evaluation is designed.

Guidelines

Where to seek IRB approval

International IRB approvals: The World Bank does not have an IRB. Typically, IRB approval is sought from partner academic / research organizations (e.g. universities, Innovation for Poverty Action [1]).

Who needs to be included in IRB approval?

All members of the research team who will manage surveys and work with personally identified data must complete training on conducting research with human subjects. The National Institute for Health (NIH) offers a free course on "Protecting Human Research Participants". [2] All surveys require informed consent from every respondent. See an example Informed Consent module [here].

Additional Resources

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