In the United States, not-for-profit organizations may be exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code 501(a) if they are organized and operated exclusively for one or more of the purposes specified in subsection (c)(3). One such organization is a public charity that carries out research. If you are wondering whether your activities qualify as research, read on to find out what constitutes as eligible research according to IRS regulations.
If you are a researcher, then this is the article for you. The Federal Government has specific guidelines on what types of research activities are eligible for exemption from IRB review and which ones require it. After reading this blog post, you will know how to determine if your research activity requires IRB approval or not. So without further ado, let’s dive in!
If you are a public charity, your research must fit into one of these categories to be eligible for exemption:
Taxation Research – This is the study and analysis of federal tax law. For example, an organization that studies how certain provisions in the Internal Revenue Code affect taxpayers may qualify as engaged in this type of research.
Legal Services – The provision or use of legal services by attorneys at law or other qualified persons which represent clients who cannot afford those services;
Education – Organization is primarily educational rather than charitable in nature e.g., conducting seminars on topics such as accounting principles generally accepted from time to time in the United States;
Public Health Programs – Activities consist solely with providing medical care without any referral of individual patients to another practitioner and without the provision of any goods or services other than medical care;
Scientific Research – Activities are engaged in for purely scientific purposes, involving laboratory research. Such activities may involve fieldwork undertaken solely to collect data on a particular issue at hand (e.g., population surveys) which would not be expected as part of an academic curriculum;
Law Enforcement – Activities consist exclusively with law enforcement work that is administrative rather than operational: e.g., preparing statistical information for reports but excluding arrests, interviewing suspects but excluding interrogations, performing surveillance operations using techniques such as wiretapping or electronic eavesdropping.)
The University of Georgia Tech Transfer Office is excited to share this blog post with you. With the recent Supreme Court decision on patenting research, it has become increasingly important for researchers and inventors to understand their rights when it comes to submitting work for patents. As a result, we’ve created this resource guide that will walk you through the steps necessary in order to determine if your work is eligible for an exemption by the federal government. Eligibility requirements Your project must be funded by either: -A governmental entity other than a federal agency; or -A nonprofit organization that does not have as one of its primary functions the type of research covered under Section C (i) above.
Historic Preservation – Activities consist exclusively with the preservation of cultural heritage and involve no new construction.
Research Developing Noncommercial Software – Activities are engaged in for purely noncommercial purposes, involving research on software that is not intended to produce a marketable product or service: e.g., developing open source code;
Educational Uses Only (Textbooks) – No commercial use allowed other than educational uses within an accredited institution of learning using printed textbooks only. Cannot be used as part of any digital library system such as Blackboard, WebCT, Desire To Learn ELM/MSI Academic Suite, etc.;
The United States Federal Government has been receiving more and more requests for research exemptions. In order to help the process run smoothly, we have compiled some information on what is required of researchers who are applying for an exemption to federal regulations.
Research that can be exempted from federal regulations: research involving only educational tests, surveys or experiments where participation involves no risk of harm beyond those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations, and results cannot reasonably be used to identify any individual person; research involving only disclosure of information which is publicly available; and research involving only noninvasive research on human tissues conducted by a qualified researcher. It should go without saying that this list is not exhaustive.
This is not an exhaustive list of research that can be exempted from federal regulations. Examples include: research involving only disclosure of information which is publicly available; and research involving only noninvasive research on human tissues conducted by a qualified researcher. It should go without saying that this list is not exhaustive.
Research involving only educational tests, surveys or experiments where participation involves no risk of harm beyond those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations, and results cannot reasonably be used to identify any individual person; Research involving only disclosure of information which is publicly available; and Noninvasive research on human tissue…
