> Eh, maybe, but at the same time, I kind of got the feeling that the researchers were treating the IRB as one more layer of security to get around. Which sugg

> Eh, maybe, but at the same time, I kind of got the feeling that the researchers were treating the IRB as one more layer of security to get around. Which suggests an entirely new line of inquiry: testing IRB procedures to see whether unethical proposals will be approved if described in misleading terms. While we're at it, we should check to see whether proposals ostensibly from people who are not faculty or students, or who perhaps don't even exist, are ever approved. Regardless of the results, we can conclude that having to sign a statement promising to never do unethical research before submitting a proposal, and insisting on identity verification before proposals are reviewed, will lower the chances of unethical research proposals slipping through.