The Institutional Review Board is concerned with examining ethical issues related to scientific research via the evaluation of submitted research proposals from all schools and following up on research activities.
It is requested by researchers from all faculties, whether research is done on humans or research requires experiments on animals, and make the appropriate decisions regarding them.
Kindly, review the information below before submitting the application through the Deanship of Scientific Research website - Electronic Services - Institutional Review Board, after getting the school Council's approval.
First: Research exempted from ethical review
- Research that evaluates an administrative, academic, health, or institutional service AND does not require identifying information from individuals or not associated with living organisms.
- Research that relies on publicly available data, documents, or records.
- Research that relies on available data, documents, or records previously owned by the researcher AND the owners cannot be identified.
- Research that is similar to a previously approved research work for the same researcher.
- Note: Activities that take place in educational institutions are not considered research, including those that involve ordinary educational activities, or that evaluate educational strategies or activities, or the effectiveness of teaching methods, or compare curricula or teaching methods and class management techniques.
Second: Research that meets the following conditions needs a review by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Jordan:
- Research that takes place on the University's campus and includes collecting data or samples from volunteers whether students or University employees, and whether the researcher is from inside or outside the University of Jordan.
- Animal-based research conducted at the University of Jordan.
- Research that is carried out by researchers from the University of Jordan in the local community at a place that does not have a specific entity available to review it ethically. This type of research may include collecting data (whether by interviews or by distributing a questionnaire). However, the researcher(s) must obtain written and documented administrative approval.
Third: Research that is referred to the Other Institutional Review Boards
Research that meets the following conditions can be submitted to other institutional review boards directly without the need to present it to the Institutional Review Board at the University of Jordan.
- Research that will be conducted at Jordan University Hospital with the participation of in-patients, out-patients, or clinics, whether the researcher is from inside or outside the University of Jordan, can be presented directly to the hospital's Institutional Review Board.
- Research that includes a pharmacological or clinical study, or contains therapeutic procedures for patients, must be submitted to the Jordanian Food and Drug Administration and the institutional review board of the health institutions where the study will take place.
- Research that will be conducted outside the university campus entirely and at an institution that has its own Institutional Review Board. To review research ethics you can directly apply for an ethical review of the research from that body without applying to the Institutional Review Committee at the University of Jordan
for inquiries, you may contact us at IRB@ju.edu.jo Researchers outside the University of Jordan can submit their forms and documents to the same e-mail address.
The following table shows the forms that the researcher must attach when applying for a research ethics review by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Jordan according to the type and mechanism of research:
>> First: Research involving human subjects
Research type
- Research that involves university students and staff and includes data collection or intervention of any type or interviews such as audio or video recording.
- Research that involves the collection of human bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine
- Research that involves the participation of vulnerable human subjects:
- Children below 18 years old University of Jordan
- Individuals with a mental or physical disability
- University of Jordan's employees or students
- Pregnant women
- Persons with diminished mental capacity
- Elderly in foster care homes
- Prisoners
- Refugees
- Individuals involved in unlawful transactions (e.g.,drug addiction)
- Research that entails the use of a questionnaire(s)
In case the questionnaire is to be distributed as paper-based, verbal consent by the participant should be sufficient since actual participation by filling in the questionnaire can be considered consent by itself, whereas if the questionnaire is online-based, the requested information must be provided before the questionnaire starts
>> Second: Research involving animals