Final answer:
An Academic Review Board (ARB) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews and approves research proposals involving human participants to ensure compliance with ethical standards and federal regulations. Their review includes examining research plans, risk factors, support for subjects, and data archiving strategies. Additional protocols may apply for research conducted in foreign countries or within Indigenous nations.
Step-by-step explanation:
An Academic Review Board (ARB), often referred to as an Institutional Review Board (IRB), may be convened for the purpose of reviewing proposals for research involving human participants. This committee, typically consisting of administrators, scientists, and community members, ensures that research proposals comply with federal regulations and ethical standards. Specifically, IRBs are concerned with different aspects including inter-rater reliability, which is a measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event, and the methodology of research like longitudinal studies.
Universities maintain IRBs which must approve research plans before any research commences. The research must be fully planned, providing detailed information such as participant risk factors, emotional support plans, identity protection measures, and plans for data archiving. These boards also ensure clear communication with participants regarding the intent of the study. In cases where research is conducted in foreign countries or within Indigenous nations, researchers must also consider and adhere to those nations' or countries' own research protocols.