The Office of Research Services Research Protections section announces the release of the online eProtocol portal. The module launched on June 1, 2020 and will be used for the submission of new human subject research protocols to the Institutional Review Board. . All new protocols submitted after June 1, 2020 will be submitted using the eProtocol portal.
The eProtocol system will allow faculty, staff and students to complete the IRB forms in a completely online environment. The system has the ability to communicate with the CITI training program and download any DePaul personnel's training records. The features in eProtocol allow Principal Investigators and their staff to follow the progress of the protocol through the review process, access all approved documents easily, obtain approval letters, as well as accessing the submission and review history for each protocol.
There will be no more need for paper submissions. All documents, including information sheets, recruitment materials and consent documents, will be attached and submitted through the system. The eProtocol system will communicate with the PI primarily with emails sent through the system, which also will be maintained and stored for easy access and reference. The protocol records are readily accessible to the researcher at any given time and are all located in one place.
The system also has such functions as cloning a protocol, which can minimize some work on the part of a researcher. Any changes made to the protocol at the time of an amendment or continuing review are made in the online form and then highlighted for the IRB reviewers, which will make the review process easier. The system will automatically send the 90, 60, and 30-day reminders for protocols that require continuing review. Reminders will be sent more efficiently and true to the timeframe, as related to expiration date.
The portal may be accessed by going to the IRB website IRB Protocol Portal tab. On that tab, researchers will find basic information, general FAQs and a link to two educational training and demo session recordings about using the system.