Information for External Researchers

Applicability

These External Researcher Guidelines apply to all individuals not formally affiliated with Northern Illinois University who are requesting assistance from NIU administration, faculty, or staff to recruit NIU students, staff, or faculty for participation in research.

These guidelines do not apply to joint, multi-institutional research projects within which an NIU student, staff, and/or faculty is a PI or a Co-PI. These guidelines also do not apply to external researchers who do not require assistance with recruitment.

Please note: All research involving human subjects conducted, supported, or otherwise subject to regulation by any Federal department or agency must be conducted pursuant to the Federal Common Rule. 

Purpose

The purpose of these guidelines is to establish a standard method of reviewing and approving any requests by external researchers (non-NIU affiliates) who wish to recruit NIU students, staff, and/or faculty as research participants. These guidelines are primarily geared toward external researchers who are requesting assistance with recruitment; however, external researchers who are not requesting assistance with recruitment may also wish to seek permission to collect data at NIU. All external researchers (i.e., anyone officially not affiliated with NIU) are required to follow these guidelines.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at NIU was established for the review of any research involving humans as subjects that is being conducted by NIU affiliates (students, staff, and faculty). The IRB is not set up to review and approve research being conducted by non-NIU affiliates; however, NIU has established these guidelines for review through the NIU Office of Research Compliance, Integrity, and Safety (ORCIS) in these situations.

Procedures

Members of the NIU community can decide on an individual/personal basis to participate in research studies for which they qualify; however, if an external researcher is requesting aid in recruitment (e.g., assistance with distributing recruitment information) or is seeking permission to collect data from the NIU community, they must first submit a request to ORCIS (see required items below). Permission decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, but the researcher must provide a compelling justification for using NIU students, staff, and/or faculty as study participants and/or demonstrate some direct benefit to the campus community.

Criteria for determining a compelling justification include, but is not limited to:

• A research question targeting participant characteristics found among NIU students, staff, or faculty
• A research question focused on higher education
• A research question comparing NIU students, staff, or faculty with other participants not tied to NIU

Criteria for determining a direct benefit to the campus community includes but is not limited to:

• A research question that provides a review or evaluation of NIU programs or practices
• A research question that directly benefits NIU students, staff, or faculty

ORCIS is not prohibited from considering other factors and considerations that are relevant and that have a bearing on determining compelling justifications and/or direct benefits under the particular circumstances of the proposed research.

For the ORCIS office to consider such a request, external researchers must first: 

1. Receive IRB approval for the study from their home institution, or other appropriate IRB,
2. Establish an appropriate contact person at NIU (i.e., faculty, administrator, or staff member), and
3. Complete the Request to Conduct External Research at NIU form (DOCX).

The appropriate contact person must be an employee at NIU with the necessary education, training, and/or experience related to the research being performed. This individual is not expected to be a co-investigator. Rather, they are establishing a connection between the external researcher and the potential participants by serving as a recruitment assistant for NIU participants (unless recruitment assistance is not needed).  For example, if the external researcher wishes to recruit 100 NIU students, the appropriate contact person may need to be the individual who directly contacts NIU students for recruitment purposes.  Generally, if an appropriate contact person has been found, ORCIS will assume they have decided the research is appropriate for NIU and will not disallow the project except if there are safety or human subjects concerns. 

Once an NIU contact has been established, the external researcher must submit the following to the ORCIS office (researchcompliance@niu.edu):

• A copy of the external researcher’s home institution’s (or other appropriate) IRB letter of approval/exemption,
• A copy of an email/letter from the contact person at NIU confirming either their willingness to serve as an assistant for recruitment or that no assistance is needed, and
• The completed Request to Conduct External Research at NIU form (DOCX).

Recruitment

Although the ORCIS office may grant the request, it does not permit the use of any university resources.  Permission to use any university resources for purposes of external research or recruitment will need to be sought from the primary owner/operator of the specific university resource and can only be granted pursuant to the applicable rules and regulations for that university resource. Recruitment of NIU participants cannot begin until a permission letter from ORCIS has been received by the external researcher. 

Questions

Questions may be directed to Patty Wallace (Research Compliance Coordinator) at pwallace@niu.edu.