Institutional Review Board (IRB) Ethics Protocol Assessor
Add your research protocols, complete the 7-category IRB checklist for each study, and track compliance status across informed consent, risk-benefit analysis, privacy safeguards, vulnerable populations, and data management. Export a full PDF assessment report.
No login · Runs in your browser · Free PDF export
Rate each domain: Pass · Partial · Fail · N/A
Add research protocols using the form to begin tracking IRB compliance.
Why IRB Protocol Assessment is Critical for Universities
Institutional Review Boards are the primary safeguard protecting human research participants at universities and academic medical centres. Every study involving human subjects — from clinical drug trials to online surveys — must pass IRB review before participant recruitment begins. Failure to meet ethical standards can result in research suspension, funding clawbacks, and in serious cases, criminal liability for the institution.
A complete IRB protocol assessment covers seven core domains: informed consent procedures (including right of withdrawal and language accessibility), risk-benefit analysis (probability and magnitude of harm vs. anticipated scientific value), privacy and confidentiality safeguards, protections for vulnerable populations (minors, prisoners, pregnant women, cognitively impaired individuals), research design validity, data management and retention plans, and conflict of interest disclosures by all investigators.
Academic research offices that centralise IRB tracking reduce protocol-to-clearance time by an average of 30%, according to AAHRPP-accredited institution benchmarks. This tool lets you enter your own protocols and configure each domain rating, giving a realistic view of your institution's compliance posture.
How to Use the IRB Ethics Assessor
Follow these steps to get results in under a minute
How IRB Ethics Protocol Assessor Compares
vs spreadsheets, manual processes, and paid platforms
| Feature | UniCloud360 IRB Ethics Protocol Assessor | Paper-Based Checklists | Intranet Form System | Research Management ERP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-category IRB checklist | All categories covered | No structured checklist | Partial form coverage | Full domain mapping |
| Protocol status tracking | Approved/Pending/Revision | Email-only tracking | Basic status fields only | Automated workflow |
| Per-protocol compliance score | Computed automatically | Manual review only | No scoring | Configurable rubrics |
| Department-level filtering | By type, dept, status | Manual file search | Requires admin access | Native org structure |
| Checklist pass/partial/fail | Per category breakdown | No item-level tracking | Binary pass/fail only | Granular item tracking |
| No login required | Runs in browser | Login required | Login required | Login required |
Who Benefits from Centralised IRB Tracking
Ethics protocol visibility protects the institution, the researcher, and most importantly, the participant
Surface all pending protocols by risk category and checklist gap, enabling prioritised committee review and timely clearance of low-risk studies.
Run department-level compliance audits across all active protocols, identifying recurring deficiencies in consent procedures or risk documentation.
Monitor overall institutional IRB compliance rates across all submitted studies to satisfy accreditation body requirements and grant agency reporting.
Use the 7-domain checklist to self-audit a study protocol before formal IRB submission, reducing first-submission rejection rates significantly.
Maintain auditable evidence of IRB review procedures across all human studies, demonstrating institutional due diligence in the event of a regulatory inquiry.
Trusted by Research Ethics Offices
Trusted by lecturers and students across Sri Lankan universities
"The 7-category checklist structure matches our own protocol assessment framework almost exactly. We used this to redesign our submission review template and saved considerable committee time."
"Having pass/partial/fail per checklist domain is far more useful than a binary approve/reject. This tool helped us train new IRB committee members on what 'partial compliance' actually looks like."
"The compliance score aggregation across all protocols was the missing piece from our previous spreadsheet process. Now we can run a department-level compliance health check in minutes."
"Used this to benchmark our IRB review turnaround time against best practice. The status breakdown by research type was especially useful for our annual accreditation report to AAHRPP."
"I show this to postgraduate students before they submit their first IRB application. Seeing the checklist categories visually makes the compliance requirements much clearer than a document alone."
"The conditional approval and revision status tracking is exactly what we needed. Our committee members can now see exactly which checklist items blocked clearance without digging through meeting minutes."