Justification for Use of the Short Form
When an informed consent process is conducted with an individual who does not speak English, participants should be presented with the consent document written in a language understandable to them. The IRB strongly encourages the use of this procedure whenever possible. However, the Short Form is often used as a method to consent non-English speaking participants into research, using an oral consent process, without the full translation of the consent document. For full instructions on the purpose of the use of the Short Form, please refer to the IRB guidance.

Because using a full, translated consent is the preferred method, the IRB will now be requesting that justification for the use of the Short Form be provided in the New Study Application. A question has been added to the New Study Application to request this justification. Please click here for the New Study Application changes.

Please not that all studies previously approved to use the Short Form will not be reassessed for justification. All studies with a currently approved Short Form may continue with this consent process.

If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to contact the IRB.