eIACUC Navigation Assistance

Quick tips for Navigation of the eIACUC Animal Protocol Submission Program:

• The Animal Protocol is presented in several sections, which are navigated using a drop-down menu on the right of the Toolbar.
• Each section can be accessed by clicking on the section title in the menu, or using the Previous Section and Next Section buttons.
• The Animal Protocol is saved each time a new section is loaded (using the buttons or the menu).
• It can also be saved during work in progress by clicking the “Save Animal Protocol” button at the top or bottom of the page.

Answering Animal Protocol Questions

• This form includes many “smart” questions, for which the response to one question will affect the presence or absence of subsequent questions.  As a result, many of the question numbers will not be sequential; this is not a mistake or problem in the form, but a way to reduce the number of irrelevant questions a user has to answer.
• Help icons and blue text links are located throughout the Animal Protocol, which link to additional information regarding the question.  Clicking these icons/links will bring up a separate web browser/tab with the appropriate help material. 

Dropdown Fields

• Some fields have drop-down menus which include several common responses.
• After clicking anywhere in the field or on the arrow to the right, you can then select the appropriate response by placing your cursor over it and clicking. If none of the listed responses is appropriate, choose “Other.” A text field will appear where you can enter your response.

Check Boxes

• Some questions require selection of answers using boxes which can be “checked” or “unchecked” to indicate “yes” or “no,” respectively.
• Click on either the box or the text for each appropriate answer. Multiple answers may be selected, if appropriate.
• For the Analgesia and Anesthesia sections, procedure check boxes will be populated based on the procedures provided in other sections (Nonsurgical Procedures or Surgery).
• If the procedure you are seeking to indicate in the Analgesia and/or Anesthesia section is not populated, you may need to add information on the appropriate procedure section.

Keyboard-Only Use

• If you need to move between fields without the use of a mouse (i.e. using the keyboard only), please be aware that use the “up” or “down” buttons as you navigate the page may change your selection on a dropdown menu.
• Use the “Tab” key to move between fields and the “space bar” and “enter” keys to manipulate the dropdown menus.
• Please note that hitting the “Enter” key when working in a text-entry field will activate the “Save Animal Protocol” button and the webpage will be refreshed after saving.

Text Fields

• Large text boxes can be expanded by clicking/holding the mouse button on the bars in the bottom right corner and dragging it to the appropriate size.
• In some browser/versions, this feature is not available.
• Please note that copying and pasting text into the text box will not retain any formatting (bold/underline/italicized font, page breaks, images, etc.) 

​Repeated Question Sets

• Many of the sections include repeatable sets of questions which pertain to a specific topic (a person, procedure, drug, etc.). 
• These question sets allow answers to be provided for each individual item, and additional entries can be added until all are listed.
• Each question set is indicated by a black box surrounding the repeated area.
• For some sections, when more than one repeated set has been answered, the entries will “collapse” to make the page easy to read and navigate.
• To expand a collapsed entry, click the header or the arrowhead to the left of the desired entry.
• To add a new entry, click the “Add” button below the last question set; to delete an entry, click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the question set for that entry.

Personnel Sections

• In the three personnel sections (Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, and Technical/Student Personnel), the first question will search the University of Iowa Directory for the person being added.
  • Enter the HawkID or at least three letters of the last name of the person to be added. A spinning icon will appear to indicate that the program is searching.
  • Select the appropriate person from the list of names that appears.
  • If too many names are found, the search can be refined by adding additional characters or adding a comma after the last name, followed by the first initial/name (e.g. Doe, John)
• Once a name from the list is selected, many of the fields will be pre-populated with that person’s information from the University of Iowa Directory.
  • Confirm that all details are correct and revise/add information as appropriate.
• The Animal Use Education Course and Occupational Health Questionnaire information will be automatically populated from electronic records. If this information is incomplete for one or more person, the Animal Protocol can be submitted for review; however, final IACUC approval cannot be granted until the appropriate training and information is collected for all personnel.

Protocol Summary Page Menu Options:

• Edit – Make changes and/or submit an in-progress draft Animal Protocol or draft Amendment
• Compare – Compare an Amendment submission with a previous Animal Protocol version
• Amend – Start an Amendment to an approved Animal Protocol (Note: only one Amendment in Draft or In Review status is permitted for each Animal Protocol)
• Renew – Create a copy of an existing Animal Protocol for the purposes of continuing the same project
• Copy – Create a copy of an existing Animal Protocol to edit and submit as a new Animal Protocol (including Duplicate Submissions for funding purposes)
• View – Read-only access for the purpose of viewing and/or printing the Animal Protocol
• Withdraw – Withdraw an Animal Protocol or Amendment which is under IACUC review. This will revert the status from In Review to Draft, and allow the submission to be deleted. This option should only be used in circumstances where a PI no longer wishes for the Animal Protocol or Amendment to be submitted to the IACUC.
• Delete – Permanently delete an Animal Protocol or Amendment. This can only be done for a form in Draft status. This action cannot be reversed.

For full detailed directions of the eIACUC Program, please see the eIACUC User Guide.