Research ethics and scientific rigor are deeply intertwined, and relevant to researchers in any scientific field. However, as recent high-profile cases have shown, research ethics are poorly understood and/or practiced. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are in place to improve research ethics but without a good understanding of what research ethics are, ethics remains open to interpretation and is largely subjective. Hence, IRBs often add bureaucratic hurdles without helping, and possibly harming, ethical conduct of research. Against this backdrop, using case studies, I will first provide a historical perspective of the foundation and evolution of IRBs, which explain many of the idiosyncrasies observed in IRBs today. I will then cover the guiding principles of research ethics and the functioning of IRBs, with a special focus on IITB’s IRB. The talk may leave you with more questions than answers but will force you to think and do better.