Navigating Ethical Oversight in Computing Research: A Case for Umbrella Protocols

Research on behavioral computing often involves human participants, necessitating informed consent and compliance with regulatory standards like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee. Unfortunately, this oversight can cause significant delays and complexity for researchers initiating or expanding a program of research. We advocate adopting an “umbrella” protocol to streamline the IRB review and approval while supporting flexibility as research evolves. First, we describe our experience with a single umbrella protocol used to collect nearly 8,000 responses across seven main studies and 23 sub-studies, demonstrating how the protocol simplified approvals, ensured compliance, and expedited our evolving research agenda. Second, we provide practical guidelines for implementing an umbrella protocol in a way that supports the IRB or Ethics Committee in safeguarding ethical research. This method effectively manages extensive data collections, enabling iterative refinement of a broad research program. Its success highlights potential gains in research productivity, offering a model for efficient and responsible research management.