A reliance agreement, also known as an IRB Authorization Agreement, is a signed document between two institutions that allows the IRB at one institution to rely on another institution’s IRB for review and approval of human subjects’ research. The signed agreement delineates the roles and responsibilities of the involved parties. This allows a single IRB to review human subjects research for two or more institutions as the relying institution cedes review to the reviewing institution. Utah Valley University has agreed to act either as the IRB of record, allowing other institutions to cede review to the UVU IRB, or as a relying institution, ceding review to an external IRB, depending on the research protocol being reviewed.

What is the Purpose of a Reliance Agreement?

A reliance agreement lowers the administrative burden on the PI by avoiding duplicate IRB reviews while permitting continued oversight for the same project. This can be beneficial for individuals who are employed by two or more institutions, are working with collaborators at another institution, or are UVU employees who are conducting research as part of their graduate work at another institution.

How do I apply for UVU IRB to cede review to another IRB?

UVU IRB must first review your project to determine whether nor not to cede review. To begin the process:

1. Download the UVU Reliance Agreement Template – Use of an External IRB form and fill out the required information.
2. Log in to Axiom and begin a new protocol.
3. Complete the protocol form. Under “Review Type” select “Delegate to External IRB”
4. Upload a description of your protocol. If an IRB application for this project has already been submitted at another institution, you may upload that document instead of writing a new protocol.
5. Upload the UVU Reliance Agreement Template – Use of an External IRB form with the necessary information completed.
6. Submit the application

Your information will be reviewed to determine if the UVU IRB will cede review. If it is determined that UVU IRB will cede review, the reliance agreement will be signed and returned to you in Axiom. It is the PI’s responsibility to collect a signature from the necessary individual at the Reviewing Institution and then upload the finalized form back to your Axiom application. The reliance agreement is not official until the completed document is returned to UVU IRB via your protocol application in Axiom Mentor. You cannot begin research until the reliance agreement is finalized.

Please note: If the reviewing institution requires you to use its institution’s reliance agreement document instead of UVU’s, please upload it to your application in place of the … form. However, UVU’s Office of General Counsel and the Research Office will be involved in the decision-making process and may require memoranda to be appended to the drafting of the agreement. Use of another institution’s reliance agreement may take at least one month for approval or denial. UVU IRB strongly recommends using our reliance agreement form to expedite the review process.First Region (Section 2)

UVU Reliance Agreement Template - UVU as relying IRB

How do I apply for UVU IRB to act as the IRB of record for two or more institutions?

UVU IRB must first review your project to determine whether or not it should act as the IRB of record. To begin the process:

1. Download the UVU Reliance Agreement Template – UVU as IRB of Record form and fill out the required information.
2. Log in to Axiom and complete your IRB application as normal.
3. Upload the UVU Reliance Agreement Template – UVU as IRB of Record form with the necessary information completed.
4. Leave a note for the IRB chair indicating that you are requesting UVU to act as the IRB of record for two or more institutions.
5. Submit your application.

Your information will be reviewed to determine if the UVU IRB should or should not be the Reviewing IRB of record. If it is determined that UVU IRB should be the IRB of record, the reliance agreement will be signed and returned to you in Axiom. It is the PI’s responsibility to collect a signature from the necessary individual at the Relying Institution, and then upload the finalized form back to the Axiom application. The reliance agreement is not official until the completed document is returned to UVU IRB via your protocol application in Axiom Mentor. You cannot begin multisite research until the reliance agreement is finalized.

UVU Reliance Agreement Template - UVU as IRB of Record