There has been some discussion recently about whether its helpful to include page numbers on the IRB office staff’s draft contingencies.
We will try to include page numbers in the future. However, we have long made it a practice to include enough information in our draft contingencies for you to be able to use the “find” function on your computer to locate the text we’re addressing. On the computers/programs we use most here, hit control and the letter F, and then type the text you’re looking for into the search box that pops up. Each internet browser also has a “find” function. We strongly encourage the use of the “find” function rather than relying on page numbers to find the text your looking for, for the following reasons:
- The “find” function is vastly faster than scrolling through pages
- Page numbers will differ between clean and tracked-changes versions of documents.
- Page numbers will change. The change that was on page 7 in the first draft consent form will have moved to page 6, or 8, in the second draft consent form. (The clean copy, anyway; no telling where it winds up in the tracked-changes version.)
Also, when you are drafting contingencies, please include enough information in them so study teams can also use the “find” function to be able to locate what you’re referring to. “Find” is faster than “scroll through a bunch of pages that may have moved around” for them too.