All external research, and associated data requests, must be submitted to the Research Review Board for review and approval prior to beginning the research study. Please note, applying does not guarantee approval.

In an effort to respect all parties' time, please ensure that your submission is of the highest quality. Incomplete requests will not be considered. We aim to complete the approval process within one month of receiving the request. However, we cannot guarantee that approvals will be completed by this time as many factors may influence approval, including incomplete proposal submission, required modifications to proposals, school needs etc.

Initial inquiries to do research with Academia Cotopaxi are welcome. We recognize that good partnered research takes time and would love to start conversations about initial inquiries well in advance of the submission windows. If you have further questions after reading the Research Review Board Handbook, you may request a 30 minute initial inquiry meeting with a representative of the Research Review Board. To request this meeting complete a Proposal Template with the details of your study and any questions you may have. Send an email to rrb@cotopaxi.k12.ec with the title of “Initial Inquiry Meeting Request”, send at least three proposed windows of availability to meet and attach your completed proposal. A representative of the Research Review Board will reach out to you and arrange a time to meet and answer any questions you may have.

All research studies carried out in Academia Cotopaxi, using school data; or involving Academic Cotopaxi staff/students/families as subjects which are accessed on Academia Cotopaxi property or through Academia Cotopaxi systems and contributes to generalizable knowledge, must be approved in advance by the Research Review Board. External Researchers who are interested in doing research that involves students, teachers, school leaders, or administrators, or data about these people and contribute to generalizable knowledge are required to submit their proposals to the Research Review Board. Human subjects research within the education context involves interventions, or collecting information or data about students and their families, teachers, school leaders, or administrators.

External Researchers who submit proposals to the Research Review Board come from a variety of institutions, including:

• Research organizations,
• University researchers, including students in master’s or doctoral programs,
• Grantees or foundations,
• Educational programs or service providers who wish to evaluate their programs,
• AC employees,
• AC students,
• AC Community Partners,
• AC contracted vendors, and
• Other individuals (e.g., consultants) interested in doing research with the school.

The Research Review Board reserves the right to make the final determination on all application requirements. In addition, all projects involving program evaluation, curriculum design or professional development must contact the Research Review Board to determine if they are required to submit a research proposal to the Research Review Board.

Review the Research Review Board Handbook, including the appendices regarding insurance and background checks. Use this proposal checklist to ensure you have completed all required steps to submit your proposal.

Complete the Proposal Submission Form to submit your proposal and attach all supporting materials at time of submission. After submitting the Google Intake Form, the researcher should receive an email from rrb@cotopaxi.k12.ec informing them that the request was received. It will provide the Research Review Board number to use as a reference throughout the process. Please reference this number in all correspondence with the Research Review Board or sponsor.

Research proposals are typically initially reviewed by the Research Review Board within one month of a complete submission. The Researcher will be contacted by the Research Review Board after the initial review with questions and/or feedback on the study proposal. Failure to respond to requests for revision within 2 weeks or inadequate revisions will result in denial of the research proposal.

All external research proposals must comply with the following regulations:

• Ley Orgánica de Protección de Datos de Ecuador
• Código de la Niñez y la Adolescencia when the study involves sensitive data from Students.

To ensure the protection of AC students and families, any proposals that violate the terms of these regulations and school policies will not be approved by the Research Review Board. For more details please read the Research Review Board Handbook.

It is common for the need to adjust studies while they are taking place. Anytime changes are made to the study, contact the Research Review Board with the assigned Research Review Board number in the subject line and the following:

1. To make changes to your study submit a completed copy of this Modification Request.
2. Institutional Review Board approval of the modification, if applicable, to ensure proper review of legal and ethical research standards, and
3. Supporting updated “proposal” materials (e.g., revised proposal, revised consent letters, revised instruments, etc.), where applicable.

Here are some examples of study changes:

• Statement of purpose, research problem, or justification of research
• Research questions or hypotheses
• Benefit or cost to AC
• Methodology
• Sample population for the study (e.g., recruitment of schools or teachers)
• Changes to study materials (e.g., informed consent, instruments, etc.)
• Extension to research study timeline recruitment and/or data collection period
• New AC sponsor, new Principal Investigator, or co-Principal Investigators
• Newly executed Data Protection Agreement, including changes to policies for sharing data (secondary data collection)
• Updated or different dissemination or publication plan
• New funding source (e.g., grant, contract, MOU, etc.)
• Human subject protection, including changes to Institutional Review Board approval
• Changes in Conflict of Interest form
• Changes in Publication Agreement

Final & Interim Results
Final results are required to be sent to the Research Review Board upon completion of the study and prior to publication of results or further distribution of the findings to other parties.

Publication
For all studies, AC reserves the right to the following prior to the publication of results:

• Review the final results and provide feedback to the Researcher and/or research team members,
• Restrict further dissemination if study participant or school anonymity is compromised, and
• Determine whether the school can be named in the publication

The Research Review Board will coordinate this review once the researcher has submitted publications to the school. Please ensure you submit the publication to the Research Review Board with ample time for review before any other deadlines you may have. This review process can take two or more weeks. AC has the right to deny the publication or sharing of results if there is the potential for undue harm (or risk) to AC staff or students. Researchers, graduate student advisors, dissertation chairs, and associated institutions who do not comply with this requirement will not be permitted to do research with AC in the future.