Human Subjects Protection
All NIJ employees, contractors, and award recipients must be cognizant of the importance of protecting the rights and welfare of human subject research participants. In this period of expanding research on criminal justice issues and growing concerns for personal privacy, the protection of human subjects in our research endeavors is extremely important.
All research conducted at NIJ or supported with NIJ funds must comply with all Federal, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, and NIJ regulations and policies concerning the protection of human subjects and the DOJ confidentiality requirements.
Why is it important for those of us involved in research to care about these requirments? Fulfilling our obligations under these regulations is important for reasons other than just being in compliance with the regulations and processing the research award. First, following these procedures provides research subjects protection from harm that might result from their participation in research. Second, complying with these procedures (e.g., IRB review, informed consent, confidentiality concerns) improves the overall quality of the research we conduct and the data used in the analysis. Third, consideration of the confidentiality and human subject issues and compliance with the rules will allow us to continue to conduct difficult research on important societal problems and to provide a scientifically informed basis for making important public policy decisions. Fourth, the codes of conduct and ethical standards of our profession to which we adhere require the dutiful protection of human research subjects and confidentiality. Finally, many of these concepts have longstanding associations with other fundamental aspects of our society (e.g., belief in individual rights, representative government), and fulfilling our obligations defines us as a society and a Nation.
The specific regulations and procedural requirements for complying with both the confidentiality and human subject protections include:
- 42 U.S.C. § 3789g Confidentiality of Information (find the statute by inserting "42usc3789g" into the search box at the United States Code Main Page on GPO Access.