Complete the IRB application. Some institutions have different applications for different kinds of projects, such as medical research or psychological research forms. (see ref 2) Complete the form that is appropriate for your project. These are usually located on the IRB website on your institution's webpage. The IRB application collects information about you, your project and the perceived level of risk for the project.
Provide examples of your informed-consent forms. (see ref 1) The IRB needs to see the instructions that the participants will receive as well as the consent forms that they will sign to ensure that each participant has been properly informed about the nature of the study and what he will experience during the study.
Write your research proposal. This document is typically a one-page summary of the research problem, your method and the results you expect to see, and it may be part of the IRB application. (see ref 4) The IRB committee will examine this to determine whether the project is appropriately designed and worth the effort of involving human participants. If they find your research design is unsound or lacking, they will not allow you to proceed.
Create interview or survey questions if you are using them as part of the study. (see ref 3) The IRB committee needs to examine these and make sure that you are not asking inappropriate or harmful questions or deceiving the participants in a way that will harm them (such as telling them they are homosexuals or suggesting other potentially upsetting information).
Provide any information that you will use in debriefing the participants after the study or any post-study interview questions. These will assure the IRB that you have wrapped up the project with the participants adequately, such as by revealing the purpose of the study if deception was involved.