The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) invites comments on its recently issued draft report, "Protecting Human Beings: Institutional Review Boards and Social Science Research." This 37-page report outlines the government's regulatory system for research involving human beings; discusses concerns about the application of these regulations, which developed out of clinical/biomedical research model, to research in the social sciences, including, for historians, oral history interviews; and recommends ways Institutional Review Boards, the campus-based bodies charged with implementing the federal regulations, can do more to take into account the pluralistic nature of academic research. The report developed out of a series of meetings convened by AAUP of representatives of the American Historical Association (AHA), the American Anthropological Association, the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, the Oral History Association, and the Organization of American Historians. Linda Shapes, a member of the AHA Council, represented the association at these meetings. The report is available at the AAUP's web site: http:/ /www.aaup.org. Comments can be directed to Jonathan Knight, AAUP, 1012 14th St., NW, Washington, DC 20005; or jknight@aaup.org. The AHA would appreciate receiving a copy of comments submitted by historians; direct the copies (only) to Robert Townsend at the AHA, 400 A St., at Washington DC 20003; or rtownsend@theaha.org.

Comments should be received no later than February 15, 2001. For further information on IRB review of historical research, see Linda Shapes, "Institutional Review Boards Have a Chilling Effect on Oral History" (Perspectives, September 2000).