The Research Protections section of the Office of Research Services uses The DePaul eProtocol system for electronic protocol submission and review. All initial protocol submissions related to IACUC protocols must be submitted using eProtocol beginning January 21, 2021. The system is web-based and can be accessible by internet.
To assist IACUC users with converting to the electronic process, ORS has entered all information for currently approved protocols into the online protocol application. In addition, ORS has attached most historical documents as PDF images on the attachment page for each protocol. When their protocol has been converted to an electronic format, Principal Investigators will have been contacted by ORS via email and been provided the newly assigned protocol number in eProtocol.
The best browsers to use for accessing eProtocol are Mozilla Firefox, Safari (version 12 or newer for Mac), and Chrome.
Important Note: Once logged into eProtocol DO NOT use the 'back button" or “back arrow" in the browser. If you do so, you will be signed or logged out of the program and will then need to re-log in. You need to use the navigation tools within eProtocol to navigate between pages.
Other Important Tips:
- Your user session will automatically time out after 60 minutes
- If you have more than one role (i.e., investigator and IACUC member), you need to be sure you select the correct role before you begin working in the system. To help you manage the work within eProtocol, you will have two different dashboards, one for investigator and one for IACUC member.
- The program has a built in auto save function as you move from page to page using the 'Next' button, but you can also manually save data you have entered on some of the pages.
- As a Principal Investigator, you can look at your protocol in the system in either edit mode (can make changes to the document) or view mode (cannot make changes). Depending upon the role of other people listed on your protocol, they may only be able to view a document, but not edit it.
- Your research team members can have different roles assigned within the system: Principal Investigator, Principal Investigator/Lead Instructor, Faculty Staff/Instructors, Key Research Personnel, or Teaching Assistants. You can also assign people to the type of access they have to your protocol; view mode and edit mode.
- The system has a page level check for completeness and an application check for completeness step at the end before submitting for review.
- Once you submit the form (either initial, amendment, annual renewal, or final report), you will not be able to go back into the form and edit.
- You will only be able to submit one type of submission at a time. For example, you cannot submit an annual renewal and an amendment at the same time. However, the annual renewal with changes process has been altered online to allow you to make any proposed changes as part of the annual renewal process without submitting an amendment form. You make the changes directly into the application form, section by section. The only form that may be submitted at the same time as another submission, or while another submissions is being processed, is the Adverse Biosafety Event and Non-Compliance Report Form.
- If you want to submit a protocol for resubmission or a second protocol that is very similar to another protocol, you may clone the original protocol versus entering all the information from scratch.
- You do not have to submit the form, if you do not have time to complete it in one sitting. You may save your information and return to the form to complete it at a later date.
To access eProtocol click here: https://researchcompliance.depaul.edu/
What is eProtocol?
eProtocol is a web-based Research Administration and compliance software system for the submission, review and approval process for IBC, IRB, and IACUC protocols. It will be initiated in phases, with the IBC being the first board to utilize the system.
How do I access and log into eProtocol?
DePaul faculty, staff, and students will use their DePaul assigned user ID and Campus Connect password to log into eProtocol. For example, John Smith may have been assigned Jsmith22 by DePaul and would have created his own password to log into Campus Connect. To log in for the first time, you would click on the link above (https://researchcompliance.depaul.edu/.) and then enter your DePaul user ID and Password in the appropriate box. You will see a popup that asks you to allow pop up for this program. You need to enable popups. When you do this, you will be signed or logged out of the program and will need to log in again. Now, you should be ready to work. If you utilize more than one computer, you will need to go through the process of enabling pop ups on each computer.
If you are not a DePaul faculty member, student, or staff member, but require access to the system, you need to contact Jessica Bloom at jbloom8@depaul.edu or (312) 362- 6168 to obtain a guest/friend of DePaul account. These types of accounts must be renewed annually.
How do I learn how to use eProtocol?
We have created user guides for IACUC members, laboratory instructors, and researchers that should guide you through the protocol submission process. The ORS staff is also available to assist you with using the online system.
This is a link to a page where the user guides are posted. The user guides are behind DePaul authentication. This means you need to have a DePaul user ID and password to have access to these guides.
https://offices.depaul.edu/research-services/research-protections/ibc/ibc-eprotocol-user-guides/Pages/default.aspx
What if I just want to know the content of the form before actually creating it online in eProtocol?
After initiation of the online eProtocol system paper versions of the form will be available for a short period of time. Detailed instructions documents will remain available for the forms on the Forms and Templates section of the IACUC webpage.
Why doesn't my CITI training automatically download into the eProtocol system when I am added to a protocol?
The eProtocol system interfaces with the CITI training records using your DePaul user ID (the one you use to log into Campus Connect or which is identified in the Outlook email registry in the last column, for example jsmith1). ORS did not initially request this information for CITI accounts, but made this update to the registration process in CITI since mid-2019 as we built the eProtocol system. Therefore, if you created your CITI account some time ago, you need to log into CITI and add the DePaul user ID to your institutional profile. You do this by logging into your CITI account. Then you pull down the menu list in the right hand corner by your name and select Profiles. On the resulting screen, scroll down to institutional profile. Click on the "Edit Profile" button for DePaul University. Then, in the resulting screen scroll down to the field for "DePaul User ID" and add your user ID. Then, scroll down to the end of the page and select "Submit". Older accounts would be blank in this field or may have an actual ID number in that field, which will not work for allowing auto down loads of the CITI training. If you need assistance with this process, please contact a member of the ORS-Research Protections staff.