Submission

Submit Your Application through IRBNet

To submit new IRB application, minor changes, or continuing review (also known as "renewal") to a currently approved IRB application, access to online CSUSM IRB system: IRBNet. Each research project submitted to IRBNet is referred as a "package". Each package has its own unique package number. IRB Office will be using this number to refer to your research project.

Each submission requires:

An application form
Up-to-date CITI training for you, your faculty advisor (if you are a student researcher), and any co-PIs. Please see the CITI training page for instructions on what certificates are required.
An electronic signature from your faculty advisor, if you are a student researcher
Any documents you are using for your data collection, if applicable (consent/assent form, information sheet, survey, interview questions, flyers, recruitment email, letter of support from research site, etc.)

Please read this IRBNet Picture Guide before submitting any IRB Applications. Incomplete submissions missing any of the above items will delay the review process.

Resources for How to Upload Your Documents to IRBNet and Submit Your Package:

Below are list of resources for instructions on how to register, how to submit a new package, and other additional IRBNet assistance.

IRBNet Training Site (username: csusm; password: training)
How to Create a Subsequent Package (for minor modifications or continuing full reviews)

Once you upload all the documents (e.g. application form, consent forms, CITI certificates for both you and your faculty advisor, if you are a student, etc.) to your package and ready to submit your package, you will click on "Sign this Package" (see the left sidebar). Once you sign the package, then you need to click on "Submit this Package" to actually submit the package to the IRB Office. If you are a student, you must click "Share this Project" and find your advisor's name from the list and share the package with him or her so that she or he can sign the project as well. Your package will not be assigned to a reviewer until your package is signed by your advisor.

**Applicants with documented disabilities who need alternatives to the use of IRBnet should contact the IRB Office (irb@csusm.edu) for individualized submission instructions.

For additional information, contact IRB Office via email at irb@csusm.edu or by phone to (760) 750-4029.

Communication with IRB Office once You Submit Your Package:

All communications regarding your package and letters will be issued electronically through IRBNet. You will receive an e-mail notification every time a letter/communication is issued to your package. It is your responsibility to login to the IRBNet and check what is posted on your package. Below is the list of communications/letters you will receive from the IRB Office:

IRB Office Letters	Description
Acknowledgement Letter	A letter posted by IRB Office within 1-3 business day to acknowledge the submission of the package. At this time, your package is assigned to an IRB reviewer and is waiting to be reviewed. You do not need to do anything until further notification.
Modification Required Letter	A letter posted by the IRB reviewer to request clarifications and modifications from the researcher about the documents she or he submitted under the package. The IRB reviewer will "unlock" the package for the researcher to make modifications. The researcher is responsible for making revisions to their documents, uploading new version of the documents, and deleting the old versions. To respond to the modification required letter, the researcher must create a separate document with his or her responses to the reviewer's request and upload this document along with the changes she or he made to other documents. The researcher must "lock" the package when she or he is done. The IRB reviewer can issue as many modification required letter as she or he sees fit.
Recommendation Letter	If the IRB reviewer is satisfied with the researcher's responses to the request for modifications and there are no further changes necessary, she or he will assign a recommendation letter to let the IRB Office know that the package is ready for approval. IRB Reviewers do not approve applications; they can only recommend for approval.
Approval Letter	The IRB Office will assign an Approval Letter in 1-3 business day to approve the package along with stamped consent document(s). At this time, the researcher can begin his or her study. He or she must use the stamped consent forms provided by the IRB Office.

Spring 2024 Submission Deadlines

Full Reviews:
April 1st
Exempt, Expedited, and all other reviews: April 30th

*Please submit full reviews at least FIVE business days before a scheduled IRB meeting. Otherwise, your full review will be reviewed at the following IRB meeting.
**Full reviews submitted near or on the full review deadline will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis; it is not guaranteed that these reviews will be approved before the semester ends and therefore you may not receive approval until the beginning of the following semester. The full committee does not operate during the summer and thus, no full reviews can be approved during that time.

IMPORTANT:
IRB reviews over summer & winter break will be reviewed in a limited capacity on an as-available basis, as the committee is not in session. Please submit your application prior to the semester deadlines in order to get your research reviewed in a timely manner.

Note: The California Faculty Association (the labor union of Lecturers, Professors, Coaches, Counselors, and Librarians across the 23 CSU campuses) is in a difficult contract dispute with California State University management. It is possible that there will be a strike or other work stoppage this term, which will delay the review of IRB files. For more information go to www.CFAbargaining.org.

IRB Submission Steps:

1. Create an account and login to the online CSUSM IRB System IRBNet.

2. Complete online CITI training. Upload yours (and your faculty advisor's, if you are a student) CITI completion certificate(s) to IRBNet.

3. Complete and upload the appropriate application form(s).

4. Upload the following documents to the IRBNet (if applicable): Consent Forms (for anyone who is 18 or older), Assent Forms (for anyone who is younger than 18), Letter of Support (if you are collecting data off campus, you need to provide a letter of support from that research site), Recruitment Script, Measures (e.g. interview questions, surveys), Verification of Translation Form (This form must be uploaded after the English version of the consent form has been reviewed and approved for a language other than Spanish.)

5. When the researcher (also referred to as “Principal Investigator”) is ready to submit the IRBNet package, she or he will need to click the “submit” button. Students who are doing research as part of their masters thesis or dissertation are considered as researcher (or principal investigator), and need to submit their own IRBNet package. However, students must share their IRBNet package with their faculty advisor and get their advisor’s virtual signature through IRBNet before submiting their application to the IRB Office.