Graduate student mistrust and fear of the institutional review board (IRB) is an issue that is commonly encountered at academic institutions. Research has shown that students emulate and are vulnerable to assuming the norms of faculty, which is supported by research that shows that students who have difficult relationships with the IRB often have faculty mentors who also have difficult relationships with the IRB. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how novice researchers’ perceptions of the IRB changed through their research submission and IRB interactions required during the IRB approval process, as well as to identify the factors that influenced their attitudes or attitude changes. Novice researchers were recruited from Facebook groups geared toward doctoral students and completed questionnaires to explore participants’ expectations and perceptions, as well as to identify the factors that influenced their attitudes or attitude changes. The findings from this small sample suggest that optimistic and positive messages are being conveyed to students by influencers but may not be treated in the same way that negative or cautionary tales are. Further, there are sources of influence on the IRB experience other than faculty that may dilute the faculty’s influence
