{"id":3940,"date":"2026-02-19T08:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/safety-assurances\/programs\/research-compliance\/institutional-review-board\/irb-reliance-requests\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:16:20","slug":"irb-reliance-requests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/safety-assurances\/programs\/research-compliance\/institutional-review-board\/irb-reliance-requests\/","title":{"rendered":"IRB Reliance Requests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Research projects involving multiple IRBs may qualify for an inter-institutional IRB Authorization Agreement (IAA). This will allow one IRB review and oversee the study on behalf of another IRB. This is called a \u201creliance\u201d or \u201cdeferral\u201d agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For guidance about Multi-Institutional Research, visit the Instructions for Multi-Institutional Research (PDF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CTSI Partners Deferral Request Form (DOCX)<\/a><\/td>Use this form if your study involves Blood Center of Wisconsin, Children\u2019s Wisconsin*, Marquette University, Medical College of Wisconsin\/Froedtert Hospital, or Milwaukee School of Engineering<\/strong>.

Email the completed form to irbinfo@uwm.edu<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Generic IRB Reliance Request Form (DOCX)<\/a><\/td>For all other institutions. Email this form to irbinfo@uwm.edu or contact us for more information.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
*If you are conducting research at Children\u2019s Wisconsin, please also include Children\u2019s administrative approval with your request form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SMART IRB<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A number of institutions are now using an electronic system called SMART IRB<\/a> to arrange reliance agreements. This system is intended to streamline the process. If you\u2019d like to use SMART IRB for your reliance request, follow these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Verify that the cooperating institutions are also part of SMART IRB by checking the Participating Institutions page<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Request a Smart IRB account<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. We\u2019ll receive a notification and approve the creation of your investigator account.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Create a reliance request within the system. The video on this page<\/a> walks you through how to do that.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. We\u2019ll receive the request and decide whether to accept oversight, then send the request on to the other institution(s).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Once the IRBs for all institutions involved in the project have made their decision, you\u2019ll be notified and given instructions for the next steps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n