Investigator quick start: using SMART IRB for your study

You’re planning a multisite study and want single IRB review through SMART IRB. Here’s the path from idea to reliance arrangement.

1. Confirm every engaged institution is a V3.0 Participating Institution — check the Participating Institutions page (see “Check an institution’s V3.0 status”). Sites that haven’t joined can’t enter the arrangement until they do.
2. Talk to your institution’s SMART IRB Point of Contact before submitting — especially about which IRB should serve as the Reviewing IRB. POC contact info is on the Participating Institutions page.
3. Gather what the request needs: study title and description, Overall PI contact details, proposed Reviewing IRB, funding sources, each site’s investigator/personnel/activities, and PDFs of the protocol (required) and consent templates.
4. Submit the reliance request in the Reliance System (see “Create a reliance request”). Add only sites that are ready — you can add more at any time.
5. After the reliance determination, the Reviewing IRB takes over review and oversight. The Reliance System is not an IRB submission system, so submit your protocol through the Reviewing IRB’s own process — see “Next steps after reliance determination.”