Since several people on this list are interested in IRB issues I am forwarding this announcement to all. I am not connected with the journal so please address any questions as instructed on their website, http://www.ku.edu/~jacr/ ______________________________________________________________________ Special Issue on Campus Institutional Review Boards Journal of Applied Communication Research Call for Contributions Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) have become a mainstay of all university campuses in the United States that receive federal funding or grants. Over the years IRBs have become increasingly active in their oversight of communication scholarship. This oversight can be particularly constraining for applied communication scholars who often study at risk populations (e.g. prisoners, physically abused women, children) and/or uncontrolled contexts (e.g. health care settings, anarchist gatherings, workplace violence). The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research is to explore the experiences of communication scholars with IRBs and the practices communication scholars use to manage the IRB process. The general approach of this special issue will be similar to the special issue on sexual harassment published in JACR in 1992. To explore these topics, we request submissions of brief narratives on any of the following topics: 1. Positive experiences working with a campus IRB. 2. Negative experiences working with a campus IRB. 3. Advice for gaining IRB approval. 4. Resistance strategies used to cope with a campus IRB. Contributors may submit narratives for more than one category or may combine categories in their narratives. Narratives may vary in length from a few sentences to a maximum of four double spaced pages and may be single authored or coauthored. Narratives can be written in either the 1st or 3rd person. Narratives need to avoid revealing individual, departmental, and institutional identities. Narratives should be based on personal experience. Reports of direct interaction with others describing their experiences, advice, or strategies may be included. Avoid including rumors and hearsay examples without direct knowledge of the accuracy of the information. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, the narratives will be published anonymously. However, scholars who wish to be recognized for their contributions will have the option of being listed alphabetically at the end of all the narratives, whether their narratives are selected for publication or not. For an example of this approach see the special issue on sexual harassment published in JACR in 1992. The special issue will include an introductory essay on the purpose and functions of IRB, representative narratives from those submitted, and one or more essays analyzing the narrative contributions. Your Consent: By submitting a narrative you are consenting to have your narrative published anonymously and you are also consenting to have other scholars analyze your published narrative. The benefit of your participation in this project will be your contribution to an important scholarly conversation concerning the way research is conducted by applied communication scholars. There is a slight risk that your local IRB could discover your participation in this project and take punitive actions against you for what you have written. However, since the narratives will be published anonymously and written so that individuals and institutions cannot definitively be identified, this is a minimal risk, even less than might be experienced by sharing the stories with colleagues. Submission guidelines: 1) Do not submit narratives electronically. Electronic submissions will not be considered. 2) Include two printed copies of your narrative and a computer disk (floppy or CD) with a word file of your narrative. Do not include any personal identifiers on the printed copies or on the computer disk or file. Narratives should be double spaced and follow APA 5th edition guidelines. 3) In an accompanying letter, indicate which category or categories of narrative you feel best describes your contribution. 4) In the same letter, indicate whether you wish to be listed alphabetically as a contributor of a narrative. 5) In the same letter, include a statement indicating that you are giving your consent to have the narrative published in JACR and are consenting to have it analyzed by other scholars. Send contributions by April 30th, 2004 to: Special Issue on IRB Debbie Dougherty/Michael Kramer, editors 115 Switzler Hall Department of Communication University of Missouri Columbia, MO 65211 DoughertyD@Missouri.edu KramerM@Missouri.edu Lois Ann Scheidt MPA MIS SPHR CCP Doctoral Student School of Library and Information Science Indiana University Bloomington IN USA Webpage: http://www.loisscheidt.com Blog: http://www.professional-lurker.com