Working group Track D
Compliance and regulatory
The Compliance and regulatory working group documents the compliance lattice that researchers navigate: IRB / Research Ethics Committee review, IACUC for animal work, GDPR for personal data, MTAs and DTAs for material transfer, EAR / ITAR for export control, BSL biosafety levels, and the agency-specific approvals stacked on top. It harmonises terms so an institutional compliance officer can describe a study's full regulatory footprint in language that funders, sponsors and ethics boards in any jurisdiction recognise.
Charter and scope
What this working group covers
The Compliance and regulatory working group documents the compliance lattice that researchers navigate: IRB / Research Ethics Committee review, IACUC for animal work, GDPR for personal data, MTAs and DTAs for material transfer, EAR / ITAR for export control, BSL biosafety levels, and the agency-specific approvals stacked on top. It harmonises terms so an institutional compliance officer can describe a study's full regulatory footprint in language that funders, sponsors and ethics boards in any jurisdiction recognise.
- IRB / REC / Ethics Committee terminology and review categories
- IACUC and animal-ethics review vocabulary
- GDPR, HIPAA and personal-data compliance terms
- MTAs, DTAs and material-transfer governance
- EAR, ITAR and export-control classifications
- BSL biosafety levels and dual-use containment
- Cross-walk between national ethics-review frameworks
Composition
Current composition
Chair
Applications under review
Candidates are being assessed for the 2026 forming round. Two-year term, renewable once.
Submit your candidacy →Co-chair
Accepting candidates
Optional second chair, prioritised for regional or sector balance.
Submit your candidacy →Community seats
Accepting candidates for 12 seats
Seats are allocated against a published rubric covering domain expertise, institutional diversity, regional balance, and an explicit slot for early-career researchers.
Apply for a community seat →Deliverables
Planned and delivered deliverables
- Compliance lattice taxonomy v1
- IRB / REC equivalence map across jurisdictions
- MTA / DTA standard-clause vocabulary
- Export-control quick-reference for research administrators
- Implementer guidance for compliance information systems
Recent activity
Working-group cadence and milestones
Illustrative working-group cadence for the 2026 forming round. Substantive deliverables and meeting minutes will be linked here as the group convenes.
2026-05-15 · Milestone
Working group forming — call for chair candidates
Open call for chair and co-chair of the Compliance and regulatory working group. Candidates are under review.
2026-04-22 · Release
Domain scope confirmed for v2026.2
Scope of the Compliance and regulatory domain confirmed against the v2026.2 dictionary release plan.
2026-03-10 · Added
Forming round announced
CASRAI announced the 2026 forming round for all 24 working groups, with seat allocations and review rubric published.
Open consultations
Currently in public comment
Currently none open. Subscribe via /get-involved/comment for future calls.
External bodies
Standards and organisations we work with
Going deeper on CASRAI
Related CASRAI guidance
Adjacent working groups
Related working groups
How to join
Apply to a seat on this working group
This working group is receiving candidates for the 2026 forming round. The application is short — name, institution, ORCID iD (optional), the seat you are applying for, and a paragraph on why this domain. Decisions are returned within four weeks of the close of the open-call window.
FAQ
Frequently asked
- What is the IRB in research?
An IRB (Institutional Review Board) — called a Research Ethics Committee (REC) in many jurisdictions outside the US — is the body that reviews research involving human participants to make sure it meets ethical and regulatory standards before it proceeds. CASRAI's Compliance and Regulatory working group documents the terminology and review categories used across these boards so institutions, funders and sponsors can describe a study's ethics oversight consistently. Its vocabulary work covers IRBs, RECs and their equivalents across different national review frameworks.
- How to get IRB approval?
Researchers submit a protocol describing the study design, participant risks and consent procedures to their institution's IRB or research ethics committee, which assigns it to a review category — such as exempt, expedited or full board — based on the level of risk involved. CASRAI's working group standardises the terminology used to describe these review categories and related compliance steps, including material transfer agreements and export-control classifications, so the process can be communicated clearly across institutions and jurisdictions. Specific procedures and timelines are set locally by each institution's IRB, not by CASRAI.
- What is the role of the research ethics committee?
A research ethics committee reviews proposed studies involving human participants to protect their rights, safety and wellbeing, weighing factors like informed consent, risk and data handling before a study can proceed. CASRAI's Compliance and Regulatory working group harmonises the terms used to describe this review process — including review categories and cross-jurisdictional equivalents — so compliance officers, funders and ethics boards can rely on shared vocabulary. This work sits alongside related oversight areas the group documents, such as IACUC review for animal research and GDPR terms for personal data.
- What does this working group do?
The Compliance and regulatory working group is the community body that drafts, reviews and ratifies dictionary entries for the Compliance and regulatory domain. It maintains scope, cross-walks to adjacent standards and the cadence of public review. Its remit is summarised on this page; the canonical terms it stewards live at /dictionary/domain/compliance-regulatory.
- Who can apply to join?
Working-group membership is open to qualified practitioners — researchers, research-office staff, librarians, publishers, repository managers, integrity officers, CRIS administrators, regulators and funders. Institutional membership is not required. The qualification test is competence and time, not affiliation. Apply via the working-group application form.
- What is the time commitment?
Cadence: Quarterly virtual sessions; two release windows per year (March and September).. Time commitment averages four hours per quarter for an active member, more for a chair. Asynchronous review happens between meetings via email. Chairs are recognised on the editorial masthead and serve a two-year term, renewable once.
- How are seats allocated?
Each working group has 12 community seats plus a chair and (optionally) a co-chair. Seats are filled by an open call reviewed against a published rubric: domain expertise, institutional diversity, regional balance, and an explicit slot for early-career researchers. Applications for the 2026 forming round are open and candidates are currently under review — see how to apply.
- Can my institution sponsor a seat?
Institutional sponsorship is welcome but is not a route to a guaranteed seat. Sponsors support meeting infrastructure, public-comment publication and contributor honoraria; they receive named acknowledgement on the working-group page and in release notes. Sponsorship enquiries go to [email protected]. Seat selection remains on merit.
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