Consent Document Resources

As guidance for social and behavioral science researchers developing consent processes for a new research protocol or revising consent documents for an existing protocol, the IRB has created several consent document templates for study types commonly submitted to the IRB.  The templates contain the information considered by the IRB to constitute the basic elements of informed consent such as descriptions of research procedures or activities and reasonably foreseeable risks and benefits associated with participation in a study.  These templates are provided as guidance or for reference as you construct your consent documents.  The use of the templates is neither required, nor is the information contained within the templates applicable to all research protocols.

If you plan to use the template to build your consent documents, the IRB recommends tailoring the template to your specific protocol, i.e., adding to areas that pertain to your research and deleting items that are not applicable to your study.

The documents provided below are divided into two categories—Templates and Examples.

• The templates contain blank fields for you to complete if applicable to your protocol as well as guidance and tips on items that commonly arise in social and behavioral science studies (bracketed in blue font).
• The examples contain fictional information (highlighted in yellow) and illustrate what a complete consent document may look like.

You may wish to download a copy of the template to your computer in order to avoid losing any changes made to the template.  If you experience any difficulty accessing the templates or have suggestions on ways to improve the templates, please contact the SBS IRB staff by telephone at (773) 834-7835 or email at sbsirbwise@listhost.uchicago.edu.

Templates

• Itemized Consent Template (doc) (pdf)
• Summary Consent Template – Student Research (doc) (pdf) This template includes consent language to record, quote from, and use identifiable information during an interview.
• Summary Consent Template – Non-Student Research (doc) (pdf) This template includes consent language to record, quote from, and use identifiable information during an interview.

Examples

• Use of surveys and questionnaires for a psychology study (doc) (pdf)
• Use of games and questionnaires for a Graduate School of Business study (doc) (pdf)
• Use of ethnographic interviews with qualitative transcripts for an anthropology study (doc) (pdf)

Other Resources

• Child Assent Form (doc) (pdf) When tailoring the assent form/script to your protocol, please consider taking into account the ages, maturity, and psychological state of the children involved as well as the level of study complexity.
• Recruitment Flyer Template (doc) (pdf)
• Student Research Consent Template – Spanish Translation (doc) (pdf)
• Non-Student Research Consent Template – Spanish Translation (doc) (pdf)
• Consent Form Requirements (doc) (pdf)