Role and Review Process

Role of IRC:

• To safeguard the dignity, rights, safety and well being of all actual or potential research participants and ensure that animals, if used for research are treated humanely.
• To provide full review and evaluation of all ethical aspects of health-related research proposals

Review Process:

• All research proposals submitted for ethical approval will undergo internal review first.
• The proposals are then categorized as
  • Exempt: which do not need IRC approval
  • Expedited: internal review is sufficient for approval
  • Full board: presentation and discussion in the IRC board meeting is required for approval
• External expert(s) can be invited for the review process
• The average time from submission to first response is 4 weeks
• After IRC sends response after initial review, the authors need to respond to the comments/suggestions within 30 days.
• For the multicentric studies, trials, funded studies and international studies, the proposals are reviewed and then sent to Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) for approval from the national body.