Research Compliance

Research compliance includes requirements related to human subjects research, conflict of interest, responsible conduct of research, animal care and use, safety and environmental protection, and appropriate use of sponsor funds. Montana Tech is committed to ensuring all research complies with federal, state, university, and sponsor policies.

IRB Essentials
Helpful IRB Related Links


The University of Montana Institutional Review Board

As a part of the University of Montana (UM) affiliation of campuses, Montana Tech participates in UM’s humans subjects protection system and its Institutional Review Board (IRB). The mission of the UM Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to ensure the protection of human participants in research, maintain federal regulatory compliance, and facilitate research within the University of Montana affiliation.

All projects involving human subjects research by Montana Tech faculty, staff, or students must be approved by the UM IRB. Grant applications for these projects also must show evidence of IRB approval, or in some cases a pending IRB application, before they are processed by the RO and OSP. Please contact grants@mtech.edu for information on required IRB training. Determination of whether IRB approval is required for research involving human subjects should be made only by the UM IRB manager Dr. Michaela Shifley, IRB@umontana.edu. Please contact UM IRB if you have any questions about whether your research requires IRB review, and investigators should err on the side of caution and consult this resource establish the status of their projects.

IRB Essentials

  • All research team members need to complete a Human Subjects Protection course before the IRB application can be approved.
  • The IRB review must be conducted before you involve human participants in your research, including any study advertisement or subject recruitment.
  • You need to have final, written IRB approval before you begin.  All consent forms and flyers must be approved, date-stamped, and signed by the IRB before being used.
  • If you do not have IRB approval for your research, your research project cannot be recognized by Montana Tech and, for students, it can not be accepted to fulfill any academic requirements.
  • Except in very limited circumstances, the IRB cannot review research that has already been conducted.

Helpful IRB Related Links

For questions, please contact IRB@umontana.edu.

The Montana Board of Regents defines a conflict of interest when an employee’s professional actions or decisions are or could be influenced by considerations of personal or financial gain. Conflicts can involve the employee, spouse, domestic partner, or dependent children – and must be disclosed, as if they applied directly to the employee.

Examples of possible conflict of interest are

  • Equity interests (e.g. stocks, stock options, or other ownership interests) in a publicly traded entity valued in excess of $5,000 or greater than 5% ownership, or a combination of stock and income from the entity that exceeds $5,000.
  • Any ownership interest in a non-publicly-traded entity (such as a start-up company), regardless of the value.
  • Income from intellectual property rights (e.g. patents, copyrights, and royalties) paid by any source other than Montana Tech.

For a full list of conflicts of interest, see the Conflict of Interest policy.

Montana Tech is responsible to ensure that all potential conflicts of interest are identified and for managing/eliminating conflicts, so that they do not improperly affect Montana Tech, decisions made by Montana Tech, or any Montana Tech research, education, and public service activities. We want to ensure the integrity of research and sponsored work, to maintain public trust and confidences, and to protect the University and its faculty, staff, and students.

The scientific enterprise is built on a foundation of trust. Society trusts that scientific research results are an honest and accurate reflection of a researcher’s work. Researchers equally trust that their colleagues have gathered data carefully, have used appropriate analytic and statistical techniques, have reported their results accurately, and have treated the work of other researchers with respect. When the trust is misplaced and the professional standards of science are violated, researchers are not just personally affronted—they feel that the base of their profession has been undermined.

https://www.nap.edu/read/12192/chapter/1#ix

Everyone—especially established researchers—is responsible for upholding and promulgating high standards and for making sure that students and new researchers learn the values associated with ethical research conduct.

Montana Tech is responsible for enabling faculty, staff, and students to perform research responsibly by treating research subjects with the highest respect and doing the research honest, accurately, efficiently, and objectively. It is vital that research mentors convey these values to student researchers and ensure students that understand how to perform research ethically and responsibly.

Faculty, staff, MBMG researchers, and students who participate in research at Montana Tech are required to take the RCR training prior to participating in research activities, along with a refresher every 4 years.

Research misconduct is the fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results according to 42 CFR Part 93. Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion. At Montana Tech allegations of research misconduct are taken seriously, investigated, and whistleblowers are protected.

Review the Montana Tech Research Misconduct Policy.