IRB Application Guideline for Psychology Students

Psychology undergraduate students who work on undergraduate research projects that will NOT involve external institutions (e.g. TÜBİTAK, Ministry of National Education, etc.) and/or be aimed for publication should apply to the Psychology Department Ethics Committee instead of the University Ethics Committee.

Students should fill out the “Bilkent Student Ethics Form” (see the link below), append the necessary documents (i.e., Informed Consent Form, Debriefing Form, Study Materials, Recruitment Materials – templates for Informed Consent and Debriefing Forms are available in the links below) to the end of the form and then create one single document. This application document shouldn’t include any signatures at the initial application.

Advisors should review the application before it is submitted to check whether the application addresses ethical issues (e.g., anonymity, confidentiality, right for withdrawal with no negative consequences, etc.) and has the necessary documents. The advisors need to complete the “Supervisor’s assessment” part of the Ethics Form to ensure this.

To streamline the process, the students need to make sure their application is in line with the Checklist provided in the link below. They need to fill out this Checklist and then ask their advisors to fill it out as well.

The students need to send ONE SINGLE application document (they can simply copy-paste all the content of the other documents (i.e., Informed Consent Form, Debriefing Form, Study Materials, Recruitment Materials) at the end of the Application Form and hence compile one single document) AND the filled Checklist document (in Excel format) to Dr. Ezgi Sakman at ezgi.sakman@bilkent.edu.tr to start the evaluation process.

For an explanation of these steps, here is the recording from the information seminar on how to apply for IRB approval within the department:

Recording of the IRB Information Seminar

Important Notes:

– Please see the “Important Points about Awarding GE250/251 Points as Compensation” document (see the link below), if the participants will be compensated with GE250/251 points. – If Psychology undergraduate students need to submit the Ethics Committee Approval to external institutions (e.g. TÜBİTAK, Ministry of National Education, etc.) and/or aim to publish their findings from the study, their supervisors (NOT the students) need to apply to the University Ethics Committeevia “Staff Ethics Form” through the ECAHS system (https://stars.bilkent.edu.tr/ecahs/). – Psychology Graduate Students need to apply directly to the University Ethics Committee with their names via “Bilkent Student Ethics Form” through the ECAHS system (https://stars.bilkent.edu.tr/ecahs/).