Historians Love the NPRM

Fifteen scholarly organizations, including the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, the Oral History Association, and the Organization of American Historians, have signed a letter endorsing the NPRM’s proposed exclusion of “oral history, journalism, biography, and historical scholarship activities that focus directly on the specific individuals about whom the information is collected."

The letter (whose authors kindly consulted me in its early stages) is unequivocal:

We concur with this recommendation of full exclusion of such activities from IRB oversight. It reflects an appreciation that these activities should not be evaluated under frameworks originally designed with the sciences in mind. It recognizes the value and attributes of these forms of scholarship. It eliminates any ambiguity about review, regulation and enforcement, and thus removes an enormous and contentious burden for both scholars and IRBs.

Don’t change a thing!