What is the main responsibility of an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

The primary responsibility of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to oversee research involving human subjects. The IRB ensures that the rights, welfare, and safety of participants are protected throughout the research process. This includes reviewing research proposals to evaluate their ethical implications, informing participants of potential risks, and ensuring informed consent is obtained. The focus on human subjects underscores the IRB's critical role in promoting ethical research practices and safeguarding participants from harm, exploitation, or unfair treatment.

While IRBs may review research that falls under federal funding, biomedical fields, or psychological studies, the core mission of an IRB extends to all research that involves human subjects, regardless of the discipline. This universality is what differentiates human subjects research from other categories, such as research on animals or purely theoretical studies that do not involve human participation. Thus, the emphasis on protecting the interests of human subjects is what makes this option the correct choice.