Research Overview 

The department advocates human and animal research to advance understanding of mental processes and behavior. This research is conducted by faculty and students with the intent of disseminating knowledge to the psychological community through peer-reviewed publication and presentation. The department has a strong history of successfully researching a large variety of psychological topics and presenting them at national, regional, state, and local meetings. The information below contains important pieces of information about how to get started in research. 

Human Research 

Faculty and students are first encouraged to determine if their investigation meets the definition of human research as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Complete the form below to determine if human research will be conducted or not. 

Human Research Determination Form

CITI Training 

If human research will be conducted, then the investigators (faculty and students) need to complete human subjects researcher training. This training is completed by successfully passing a series of training modules from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) program. 

Please follow the steps below to successfully complete the training: 

1. Go to CITI Program and click "create an account", then the "register" button. 
2. Select Southeast Missouri State University as your institution. Do not do the training as an independent learner. 
3. Fill out the form with your personal information. Use your Southeast email as the primary email account. 
4. Choose a username, password, and security question and answer. 
5. After you have registered, you will have the opportunity to select your training via three questions. Under Question 1, choose the appropriate kind of Human Subjects Research training. For most proposals, this will be "IRB for Social and Behavioral." Under Question 2, choose appropriate Responsible Conduct of Research training. This is usually Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research course. Question 3 may be left blank unless you are working with animals. If you have questions about the courses to choose, contact the IRB at irb@semo.edu for assistance. 
6. After choosing your courses, click "submit", and choose Southeast Missouri State University Courses. Click on one of the selected courses, and you will see a list of modules to be completed. 
7. Click on a module to begin training. The modules are not timed. Each has a set of learning objectives and a quiz at the end. You need to complete all modules with an average score of 80% or better to complete the training successfully. You can return to any module and retake the quiz at any time before completing the course. 
8. When you have completed a course, notice will be sent automatically to appropriate University personnel. 

IRB Applications 

After completing the training, the researchers need to determine if their investigation meets the criteria for exemption within the Institutional Review Board's (IRB) application process. Complete the following form to determine if the project can be considered exempt or not. Researchers need to submit the exemption application to irb@semo.edu to apply for exempt status. The IRB ultimately determines if a project is given exempt status or not. 

IRB Exemption Application

Researchers need to submit a completed Initial Review Form to irb@semo.edu if the project cannot be given exempt status. The IRB committee will evaluate the contents of the application and determine if the project can be conducted as proposed or not. Please follow the advice inside the Initial Review Form Tips document when applying for IRB approval. An informed consent document needs to be included when researchers apply for IRB approval. Use the Informed Consent Template if the project is a non-medical study. 

IRB Initial Review Form

IRB Initial Review Form Tips

Informed Consent Template

Researchers conducting an approved non-exempt investigation (i.e. expedited or full) for more than one calendar year need to have their proposals re-evaluated by the IRB committee. Researchers must submit a completed Review and Monitoring Form to irb@semo.edu at least two weeks prior to the one-year anniversary of the project being originally approved. 

IRB Review and Monitoring Form

Classroom Projects

Faculty who intend to require student projects as course assignments need to determine if their investigations require IRB approval or not. Faculty need to complete the Classroom Project Checklist to make this determination. Faculty need to adjust their course assignments to comply with this checklist to avoid IRB review. 
 
Classroom Project Checklist