Overview of Requesting a Certificate of Confidentiality

This topic is a very general overview of steps to use the Online Certificate of Confidentiality (CoC) System to request a CoC. To learn more about Certificates of Confidentiality and this system, see About Certificates of Confidentiality.

General steps to use the Online Certificate of Confidentiality System to request a CoC (For detailed steps, click the linked topics below):

1. First, specify the funding source for your research. Some federal agencies have their own CoC processes and indicating one of those agencies as a source of funding directs you to more information for CoCs for those agencies. If the funding source is covered by the Online Certificate of Confidentiality System, continue to the eligibility questions.
   See Starting a Certificate of Confidentiality Request
2. Next, answer a set of eligibility questions. The eligibility questions are based on applicable U.S. law and regulations.
   See Details on Certificate of Confidentiality Eligibility Questions.
3. If the eligibility answers indicate your research is eligible for a CoC, you are shown the next screen, where you enter the details of your research such as research title, institution, institutional official, principal investigator, physical and email addresses, etc. You also specify drugs administered for the study and attach a DEA certificate for any controlled substances.
   See Requesting a Certificate of Confidentiality.
4. Then you submit the CoC request for verification, after which an email is automatically sent to the institutional official's email address with a link to verify the request. The email is from NIH-CoC-Coordinator@mail.nih.gov.
   See Methods to Submit the CoC Request.
5. Finally, the institutional official clicks the link in the email, which opens all the data from the original request in a web page. The institutional official reviews the data, makes corrections if necessary, confirms the institutional assurance statements, and then submits the CoC request to NIH. Both the institutional official and principal investigator receive a confirmation email from NIH.
   See Verifying a Certificate of Confidentiality.

NOTE: Using the Online Certificate of Confidentiality System is NOT necessary for NIH-funded projects, as applicable NIH-funded research studies are automatically deemed issued a CoC.