What is the primary responsibility of oversight bodies such as an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

The primary responsibility of oversight bodies like an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements related to the protection of research subjects. The IRB is tasked with reviewing research proposals to ensure that the rights, welfare, and safety of participants are safeguarded. This includes assessing risks, benefits, informed consent processes, and ensuring that ethical standards are maintained throughout the research process.

While methodological soundness is critical for research integrity and quality, it is not the primary focus of an IRB. The IRB does not typically evaluate the technical aspects of the research design itself, although it may consider whether the research is ethically acceptable. Similarly, issues of authorship, data management training, and other operational aspects of research are usually overseen by different entities or processes within an institution. The overarching goal of the IRB is the ethical treatment of human subjects involved in research.