Graduate Student Investigator: Best Practices for Human Research Protections within Online Graduate Research

This paper presents the best practices used by institutional review boards (IRBs) and human research protections programs (HRPPs) to prepare online graduate student investigators for human research protections specific to research within online graduate degree programs or where research supervisors are not proximal to graduate student investigators and their research protocols. In recent years, advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other data mining/scraping forms have adversely impacted individual privacy and the unintended sharing of personally identifiable information (PII). With this growth of ubiquitous digital technologies, such as AI, ML, and data mining/scraping, used across online graduate degree programs, specialized training and preparation are needed to best prepare graduate student researchers for human research protections involving data with PII. Implications for IRBs and HRPPs are also addressed in this rapidly evolving climate, with recommendations for the design of online graduate degree programs that include graduate research and the best strategies to prepare online graduate student investigators for human research protections. [This paper was published in: "1st Annual Virtual Fall National Conference on Creativity, Innovation, and Technology (NCCiT) Proceedings," November 15-16, 2023, pp. 84-108.]