IRBs and Oral History

We quote from an update from the Organization of American Historians:

On January 19 the federal government issued its final rule governing Institutional Review Boards (IRB) which "explicitly removes" oral history and journalism from the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects. It was originally promulgated as the "Common Rule" in 1991. The historical community, collaborating through the National Coalition for History, has long argued that scholarly history projects should not be subject to standard IRB procedures since they are designed for the research practices of the sciences. The new rule goes into effect January 19, 2018.

Here's the rule.