Research Review Application

The Great Lakes Community Review Board meets on a monthly basis to review project submissions and updates. Once an application is submitted and the review fee is received, submissions will be reviewed at the next available board meeting. 

We do not review projects involving biospecimens, pharmaceutical trials, or anything that falls within FDA related research or trials. 

We do not offer expedited reviews. The review process will take 6-8 weeks from submission to project review certification. Reviews may be delayed by incomplete submissions and requested revisions. 

The button below will open up the research project application form. Submitters are strongly encouraged to read through the Application Preparation suggestions below. 

Once approved, the approval term will be two years. 

Project directors will be expected to provide regular quarterly, annual, and final updates. 

We recommend downloading or copying a preview of the research project application here. We also recommend drafting your answers prior to completing this application and copying your responses in the application fields. Please save your work frequently. 

The application has eight parts. The parts are: 

Part 1: Cover Sheet 

Part 2: Summary 

Part 3: Community Involvement

Part 4: Benefits to Community

Part 5: Research Project Description 

Part 6: Informed Consent

Part 7: Certification by Researcher / Project Director

Part 8: Attachments

Application Instructions

For all short answers, please use common and plain language. Responses should be brief but still adequately address the question. If you feel additional information is needed, you can add additional attachments in Part 8. 

Part 5 asks questions related to the research project description. If you have received an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from a federally recognized review board, you do not need to complete Part 5. If you have not yet received IRB approval or do not have access to a traditional IRB protocol review process, you must complete Part 5. 

Part 8 will ask for a number of required and optional attachments. It may be helpful to gather these documents ahead of time and have them ready prior to completing this application. These documents include: 

• IRB Approval (optional, but if IRB approval is not attached, you must complete Part 5)

• Informed consent form or description of informed consent procedures 

• Testimonies of support from any partnering organization and community residents outlining the nature of partnership in their own terms.

• A letter of support from the Executive Director of any facility, organization, school, office, business, prison, jail, detainment facility, or church where the research practices will be located. This letter should include the organization’s letterhead. 

• Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator positionality statements. Please refer to The Equality Institute or the University of Michigan Medical School for resources on creating a statement of positionality.  

• Copy of the budget for this research project 

• Informed consent materials

• Copies of participant recruitment materials (i.e. flyers, phone or email scripts, invitations, etc.) 

• Optional: Add appendices, maps, or other documents you feel are relevant and helpful to the review process.

• Optional: CV or resume of the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigators 

You will receive an email notification upon submission.  Please save this notification as proof of submission. The review process should take 6-8 weeks upon submission, with extra time allowed for holidays and requested application revisions. 

Once submitted, you have the option to return to the application and amend your answers.

If approved, the approval term for research applications will be two years. Research projects that run longer than two years should submit a protocol extension application 45 days prior to the expiration of the approval term to maintain approval status