Date of Publication : March 2026

Abstract: The main functions of Institutional Ethics Committees and their US counterparts, Institutional Review Boards, are to protect ethical standards and human participants in medical research. However, many ethics review processes are done manually, scattered, and create administrative delays. This results in longer approval times and less transparency. Previous studies on digitizing ethics reviews revealed gaps that motivated us to design, implement, and evaluate a web-based workflow management system for IECs. This system aims to manage the submission, review, and approval of research proposals efficiently. The proposed system includes role-based access control, automated workflow management, digital document handling, real time status tracking, and notification systems to improve efficiency and accountability. We developed a prototype that shows the automation of the IEC process from investigator submission to reviewer evaluation and administration oversight. Validations using functional and workflow methods demonstrate that the system can significantly cut down on administrative overhead and improve turnaround times compared to traditional paper-based systems. This platform provides a modern solution for ethics reviews that is both scalable and suitable for medical research institutions.

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