Responsible conduct of research training provides basic information about accepted practices in scientific inquiry. Training requirements vary across funding agencies.
Funding Source |
NIH |
NSF |
USDA/NIFA |
---|---|---|---|
Applicability |
All researchers funded by NIH career development and training grants (i.e., F, K, T, etc.). See Training Details below for specific grants. |
Faculty and other senior personnel, undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. |
All researchers funded off of this source (i.e., program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff). |
Topics |
See Training Details below and Training Resources for content | ||
Frequency |
Every 4 years |
Once |
Once |
Format & Duration |
8 hours of discussion-based, face-to-face instruction. |
Not specified by agency. CITI training will suffice. | Not specified by agency. CITI training will suffice. |
Tracking |
Individual learners are responsible for documenting and tracking their training. |
NIH-funded trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars. Faculty highly encouraged.
Applicability: D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.
Not all topics are relevant to all learners. Add or substitute other research integrity-related topics at your discretion and in accordance with your approved plan.
NIH encourages RCR instruction at every stage of a researcher’s career and at a frequency of no less than once every four years. NIH also highly encourages that initial RCR training for predoctoral researchers takes place as early as possible in graduate school.
Discussion-based instruction is a key feature of RCR training and must include substantive face-to-face interaction among participants and faculty. See Notice for details and exceptions. Instruction should involve substantive contact hours between the trainees/fellows/scholars/participants and the participating faculty. NIH has indicated that acceptable programs generally involve at least eight contact hours.
Individual learners are responsible for documenting and tracking their training. Researchers funded by NIH, NSF, or USDA will be asked to submit an ANNUAL REPORT of that training to OSRAA.
Research integrity is essential to excellence and public trust in science. Training in the responsible and ethical conduct of research is one of the components necessary to ensuring that all researchers are prepared to engage in research activities with integrity and maintain a high standard of conduct.
In recent years, federal funding agencies have updated the requirements for responsible conduct of research (RCR) training; these requirements differ across funding agencies and their applicability varies by career stage. Requirements set forth by NIH, USDA/NIFA are outlined in other sections of this page. Principal Investigators are responsible for ensuring that the members of their research team complete RCR training in accordance with the requirements of the agency or agencies funding their research.
In addition to the training requirements below, the National Science Foundation (NSF) requires each institution applying for NSF funds to have a responsible and ethical conduct of research training plan.
OSU's plan must include the following components:
While this plan does not have to be included in each proposal submitted to NSF, it is subject to review upon request by NSF. OSU has established the following plan to fulfill the above requirements.
All undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and other senior personnel who will be supported by NSF to conduct research to receive RCR training.
Successful completion of this training is required within 60 days of being notified of the requirement to do so and before new project award set-up will be completed.
NSF encourages consideration of the following reports by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in meeting RECR requirements: Fostering Integrity in Research; Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and Reproducibility and Replicability in Science.
Not all topics are relevant to all learners. Add or substitute other research integrity-related topics at your discretion and in accordance with your approved plan.
At OSU, a baseline level of RCR training must be completed once every four years.
RCR training can and should take many forms, such as investigator-led discussions, formal course work, seminars, and workshops. There are numerous training resources available to learners through the Office of Research Integrity.
Because NSF requires that the institution track and verify training, OSU requires that a baseline level of training be completed through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) program. The CITI system keeps track of all completion data.
A minimum, aggregate score of 80% is required to pass the RCR course. CITI allows users to retake the quizzes if the minimum score was not obtained to pass the course. CITI estimates that review of the required materials and completion of the quizzes takes about 30-35 minutes per topic.
CITI Instructions
The completion of CITI’s RCR modules is required unless a waiver of this requirement is granted by an Institutional Official in the Division of Research and Innovation. The Division of Research and Innovation will review requests for a waiver of the RCR requirement from individuals who:
If you have been notified of the requirement to complete RCR training but you meet one of the above waiver criteria, please complete a Request for Waiver form.
Individual learners are responsible for maintaining documentation of their training. Upon course completion, a copy of the completion certificate will be available to print and retain for your records. The Director of the Program for Responsible Research Practices will access completion data directly from that system.
Program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and any staff participating in the research project.
USDA directs that the general content of the ethics training, at a minimum, will emphasize three key areas of research ethics: authorship and plagiarism, data and research integration and reporting misconduct. Not all other topics are relevant to all learners. Add or substitute other research integrity-related topics at your discretion and in accordance with your approved plan.
USDA allows an institution to determine the frequency of RCR training. At OSU this training is required once.
USDA does not specify the RCR training methods. Training can be delivered in-person or virtually through group or lab meetings, seminars, or courses. Online resources, such as CITI may also be utilized.
Individual learners are responsible for documenting and tracking their training. Researchers funded by NIH, NSF, or USDA will be asked to submit an ANNUAL REPORT of that training to OSRAA.
If you would like to make an anonymous report related to any violation of ethical standards or institutional policies, we encourage you to use the Accountability & Integrity Hotline: EthicsPoint