The Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and Institutional Review Board (IRB) play an important part in maintaining the integrity and safety of the fair.  This page includes important information on SRC/IRB processes.  If you have questions about SRC/IRB please check this page to see if your question has already been answered.  Links to the official ISEF rules and forms are at the bottom of this page.  If you still have questions then contact the SRC for more help.

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While there are a few exceptions, projects involving human participants (including surveys and testing on yourself), vertebrate animals, and bacteria require project approval from the SRC or IRB BEFORE experimentation can begin. Please be mindful that our SRC and IRB reviewers are volunteering their time, and understand that it may take 7-10 days for them to complete review of your project. Responses will take longer over holidays and school breaks. Please respond promptly to any questions the SRC or IRB reviewers send to you. Make sure you allow time for this review and for you to make any requested corrections to your research plan as part of your project timeline. Send an email to SRC or IRB once you’ve entered your Research Plan into STEM Wizard so they know the project is ready for review.

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Table of Contents:

1. General Notes and Tips for ALL Projects
2. Human Subjects Projects
3. Nonhuman Vertebrate Projects
4. Pathogens
5. Hazardous Substances and Devices
6. Links to ISEF rules
7. Contact Information

General Notes and Tips for ALL Projects:

All Projects require the following forms:

1. Form 1: Checklist for Adult Sponsor
   • Don’t forget to check the final box attesting that all information is correct before signing form
   • Must be signed and dated
2. Form 1A: Student Checklist 1A
   • NOTE: detailed Research Plan Instructions are on the 2nd page of Form 1A
   • Make sure you answer ALL questions on this form
   • The start date on Form 1A should include any SRC approval time.
   • The end date on Form 1A can be left blank or set at the date of the fair.
3. Form 1B: Approval Form 1B
   • Form 1B needs to be signed and dated by the parent and student
4. Media Release and Ethics Form: MCSF Media and Ethics Form

There are extra forms required for projects involving humans, vertebrate animals, microbiology, pathogens, hazardous substances and devices, tissue, research in institutions other than schools, and continuation projects. See the sections below for more information about these types of projects. Students will complete the ISEF Rules Wizard the first time they open the Files and Forms milestone in STEM Wizard, which will help identify the ISEF forms required for their project. This list of forms should be reviewed by the Adult Sponsor.

Additional Tips:

• Enter your Research Plan and upload your required ISEF forms in your STEM Wizard account. If your project requires SRC or IRB pre-approval, email SRC/IRB after you’ve uploaded your research plan and forms into STEM Wizard to ensure timely review of your project.
• Make sure to read all the rules first and then ask questions if something is not understood.
• Procedures must be detailed. Please use the guidelines under Research Plan Instructions of the Rules for writing a complete research plan. Brief procedures will slow down the SRC/IRB approval process.  You must discuss how you will do Data Analysis.
  • Middle School Students should include that they will be calculating averages from multiple trials and graphing their results as part of their Data Analysis Section.
  • High School Students should also include statistics as part of their Data Analysis.
• It’s very important that the Teacher’s name, phone number, and email address are correctly entered within STEM Wizard and on the forms in case of questions or problems. 
• Expect the average time for project approval to be 7-10 days.
• Form 1C (if needed) should have the top portion filled out, the remainder can be blank but needs to be completed by the time of the fair.

Projects that use live vertebrate animals, recombinant DNA, human or animal tissue, pathogenic agents, or controlled substances require pre-approval by the SRC. Projects that have human participants (including surveys or any measurement done on the researcher) require pre-approval by the IRB. The DEADLINE for requesting SRC or IRB pre-approval is February 11, 2025. These types of projects must receive approval before students can begin experimentation.

If a project does not require pre-approval by the SRC or IRB, students may begin experimentation as soon as their Adult Sponsor has approved their research plan.

Human Participants Projects:

1. Human subject projects include surveys and measurements on people, including the researcher. See the ISEF rules about human participants projects for more examples and information.
2. Form 4: Human Participants and Human Informed Consent Form are Required
3. Human Subjects Projects must have IRB approval BEFORE experimentation begins – this adds review time, please plan accordingly.
4. When writing procedures address all 6 bullets listed for Item 1: Human Participants Research in the Research Plan Instructions. Following this format will speed up the review process.

Nonhuman Vertebrate Projects:

1. Most Projects cannot be done at Home.
2. Exceptions to this may be projects that involve family pets, check with the SRC before starting experimentation.
3. Complete Form 5a or Form 5b (depending on where you conduct your experiment)
4. Follow the 6 bullets listed for Item 2: vertebrate animal research in the research plan instructions – Need to have detailed descriptions of experiments.
5. Handling and care is VERY important and should be documented carefully.
6. Your project will need to be approved by the veterinarian who works with the Mid-Columbia SRC.
7. Care and Feeding schedules, etc. should be documented as well.  Must include an explanation regarding invertebrate alternatives.

Pathogens:

1. Aseptic technique.
2. The handling procedures should be recorded in the student’s own words.
3. Disposal/clean-up methods must be documented.
4. All bacteria projects CANNOT be done at Home. Bacteria projects require pre-approval (unless using the K-12 E. coli strain, see note 5 below.)
5. If students want to work with bacteria, we strongly suggest ordering the K-12 strain of E. coli from Carolina Biological Supply. This strain is exempt from pre-approval, but the student must state that they are using the K-12 strain of E. coli in their procedure and purchase from Carolina Biological Supply.
6. A risk assessment is required for all projects in these research areas (this includes levels of biological containment).  Essentially, biosafety 1 research may be conducted in a high school with a trained Designated Supervisor.
7. All projects involving Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents require Hazardous Risk Assessment Form (Form 6A).  Projects involving tissues, including blood and blood projects require a Form 6B.
8. Projects involving Unknown Microorganisms (i.e. those collected from the environment) have additional rules and restrictions.
9. See the ISEF rules on Potentially Hazardous Biological Agents for more details.

Hazardous Substances and Devices:

1. Need to have detailed descriptions of experiments.
2. Projects using Hazardous Substances (chemicals) must include Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)/Safety Data Sheets (SDS). You may include a reference to the source of the MSDS on Form 3 in place of scanning the full document.
3. If using Hazardous Devices, include a description of the device and how it is used.
4. A risk assessment (Form 3) is required for all projects.

Links to the Regeneron ISEF:

For detailed explanations of rules and links to the required forms please visit the ISEF website.

• Official ISEF Documents Webpage
• Regeneron ISEF Rules and Guidelines

 
Contact Information:

For more information or clarification of questions contact:

MCSF SRC Chair: Theresa Alvarez-Ziegler, Sunnyside HS, src@midcolumbiasciencefair.org

MCSF IRB Chair: Robin Driver, Eisenhower HS, 509-830-7296 or irb@midcolumbiasciencefair.org

MCSF Fair Director: Joyce Stark, Sunnyside HS, 509-837-2601 or director@midcolumbiasciencefair.org