1. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to minimize the risk of coercion, undue influence, and conflicts of interest (COI) in human subjects research involving recruitment of individuals who have a pre-existing dependent, hierarchical, or familial relationship with the investigator or research staff.
The institution recognizes that recruitment involving existing professional, academic, supervisory, evaluative, or family relationships may compromise voluntariness and participants’ ability to freely decline participation or withdraw from a study without fear of adverse consequences or interpersonal repercussions.
2. Scope
This policy applies to all human subjects research conducted under the oversight of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), including research involving:
- Faculty, staff, students, trainees, employees, volunteers, or family members;
- Principal Investigators (PIs), co-investigators, and research personnel;
- Any recruitment setting in which an actual or perceived power differential, dependency, or close personal relationship exists.
3. Policy Statement
As a general rule, investigators should not recruit or enroll individuals with whom they have a current supervisory, instructional, evaluative, dependent, or familial relationship.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Principal Investigator–lab member relationships;
- Teacher–student relationships;
- Employer–employee relationships;
- Supervisor–trainee relationships;
- Clinical provider–patient relationships where the provider is also conducting the research;
- Investigator recruitment of spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, or other family members.
Recruitment of individuals with whom the investigator has an existing relationship may only be approved when the investigator provides compelling justification and demonstrates adequate safeguards to protect participant autonomy and voluntariness.
Convenience of sampling, ease of access, lower recruitment burden, personal familiarity, or faster enrollment are not sufficient justifications for recruiting one’s own students, employees, trainees, laboratory members, or family members.