November 2015

As reported in the September 2015 issue of Highlights, the Department of Health and Human Services is seeking comments for proposed changes to the Common Rule—the federal regulations for the protection of human subjects (45CFR46). The announced deadline for comments was December 8, 2015. On November 24, the comment period was extended 30 days to January 6, 2016.  

Interested readers of Highlights are encouraged to submit comments by that date. AERA is in the process of examining the proposed rule changes. Executive Director Felice Levine, who currently chairs the board of the Consortium of Social Sciences Associations (COSSA), is coordinating and preparing comments for AERA, COSSA, and other social science associations. Levine served on the National Research Council’s panel that issued the report Proposed Revisions to the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.  She and other colleagues with expertise on the ethics of research and the Common Rule are currently undertaking an analysis of the proposed changes.

Highlights readers submitting comments are asked to send a copy to [email protected]. Those wishing to provide feedback to contribute to the deliberations underway by AERA are encouraged to submit ideas, also to [email protected], regarding the proposed changes—including changes that are strong and those that might merit additional clarification or modification.