Welcome to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitaion and Correction

Skip Navigation

Please Note: You are viewing the non-styled version of Ohio Department of Rehabilitaion and Correction. Either your browser does not support Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or it is disabled. We suggest upgrading your browser to the latest version of your favorite Internet browser.

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Human Subject Research Review Process

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction welcomes those interested in conducting research in our Department. Researchers who want to use the ODRC offender population or correctional staff in their research must first obtain approval from the Department's Human Subjects Research Review Committee (which is similar in function to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of most universities).

The following documents are needed to review the proposed research: 1) a completed APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL; 2) a completed RESEARCH PROPOSAL APPROVAL form; and 3) a letter indicating university IRB approval of the research (for university-affiliated requests). The Department's Human Subjects Research Review Committee will meet and review the proposal (the committee meets monthly). Click here for a detailed description of the review process. Generally, the committee will address the following questions in the review of the Application for Review of Research Proposal:

  • Does the proposed research have a "clear and reasonable nexus" to an offender population? For example, persons studying sleep problems, shampoos, or TV viewing habits do not need to study offenders to answer the questions of the research. Non-offender groups can be used. Persons who wish to study how burglars case houses could reasonably use an offender population.
  • Does the researcher provide appropriate safeguards for the research subjects?
  • Does the project adequately address valuable topics, either to the Department or to the general knowledge of the field of criminal justice? The potential benefits of the proposed research will be considered, as well as the cost of the research to the ODRC.
[Back to top]

Documents for review should be sent to:

John Chin, Chair
Human Subjects Research Review Committee
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
770 West Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43222

Questions regarding the Human Subjects Research Review process can be addressed by John Chin at:
Phone: 614-752-1278
E-mail: John.Chin@odrc.state.oh.us
Fax: 614-728-1033