Reliance Agreements

A Reliance Agreement (also called an IRB Authorization Agreement or IAA, Cooperative Agreement, or Ceded Review Agreement) is a document signed by two or more institutions engaged in human subjects research that allows one or more institutions to cede review to (or rely on) another IRB. Reliance agreements can be limited to single studies, categories of studies, or all human subjects research conducted under an organization’s Federalwide Assurance (FWA).

The reliance agreement documents the respective authorities and responsibilities and often outlines a communication plan between the institution conducting the IRB review of human subjects research and the institution relying on the reviewing IRB. Therefore, even when Yale University cedes IRB review to another IRB (e.g., a central IRB), a submission to the Yale Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is required so that Yale HRPP can ensure that local requirements for human subjects research are met.

The Yale HRPP maintains multiple reliance agreements with commercial IRBs and other institutions. Yale is a participating institution in SMART IRB Master Agreement and can document use of the reliance using the SMART IRB Portal.