NSF and NIH Requirements

The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires responsible conduct of research (RCR) training for all undergraduates, graduates, and post-doctoral fellows who conduct research supported by NSF funds. All institutions submitting applications must certify at the time of application submission that plans are in place to provide appropriate training and oversight of the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research.

Similarly, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, or dissertation research grant must receive RCR training. This requirement also applies to all faculty, including new faculty, mid-career faculty and senior faculty, and professional and scientific employees receiving funding from these sources. Plans to meet the RCR requirements must be specified in the principal investigator's proposal application.

NSF Training Requirements

NSF expects institutions to be able to verify that students receiving NSF funds, either in salary support or stipends to conduct research, receive RCR training. Unlike NIH, NSF has not specified the content for training and expects each institution to determine curriculum, taking into consideration the types of research conducted at the institution and the needs of the students who intend to pursue basic or applied research careers.

The RCR training requirement applies to new proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 4, 2010, to conduct research that supports students and postdoctoral researchers; excluded are proposals for conference, symposium, workshop, or travel submissions.  PIs will be asked to agree to complete the same RCR training as his/her students and postdoctoral researchers working on the project. Although this latter action is not specifically required by NSF, NSF has made it clear that they expect RCR to include a strong mentoring component, so it is important that PIs are familiar with the RCR training that their students and postdoctoral researchers have taken and can discuss it with them.

RCR Training

RCR training at UMBC is the responsibility of the Vice President for Research and will be administered through the Office for Research Protections and Compliance (ORPC), because the RCR on line training modules are included in the CITI suite currently used for human and animal research training. The RCR modules in CITI address the following topics:

• Research Misconduct
• Data Acquisition and Management
• Responsible Authorship
• Peer Review
• Mentoring
• Conflicts of Interest
• Collaborative Research

These topics are customized for a number of specific disciplines including Biomedical, Humaniaties, Social and Behavioral, and Physical Sciences, and Engineering. The modules contain general information about RCR, case studies and quizzes. Instructors who teach an existing course that includes an RCR component will be asked to include the CITI training as part of the course.

PLEASE NOTE: The RCR modules cannot be substituted for the basic courses required for human subjects research or laboratory animal welfare.

Registering for the CITI RCR Training

Open the below documents to obtain more information on how to register with CITI to take this course; then log into CITI (www.citiprogram.org).

How to register for the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course

Navigating the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course

Already registered on CITI and want to add or update a training module? Look here.

Taken training at another instituion and want to switch to UMBC? Click here.

NIH Training Requirements

NIH requires the submission of an instructional plan addressing the responsible conduct of research. The November 24, 2009, notice (NOT-OD-10-019) established a new expectation for the format of the training, subject matter, faculty participation, duration and frequency of instruction. The 2009 update specifies that online courses, such as the above CITI RCR modules, can be a valuable supplement but they are not considered adequate to address the RCR requirements. Training plans should include a minimum of eight substantive hours of face-to-face instruction over the following subject matter:

Training may be given as a semester-long series or a single one-day workshop. Investigators may develop their own training format. The NIH guidance documents also indicate that “Training faculty and sponsors/mentors are highly encouraged to contribute both to formal and informal instruction in responsible conduct of research. Rotation of training faculty as course directors, instructors, and/or discussion leaders may be a useful way to achieve the ideal of full faculty participation in formal responsible conduct of research courses over a period of time.”

Other Responsible Conduct of Research Training Resources

American Association for the Advancement of Science  - Integrity in Scientific Research Video Series
American Psychological Association  - Care on Animal Research and Ethics (CARE) Video Series
Association for Practical and Professional Ethics - research ethics workshops and seminars
Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research - interactive tutorials on RCR
Ethics Core Digital Library - National Center for Professional & Research Ethics - multimedia educational materials and research literature
Ethics Education Library - Ethics Education Resources in Engineering & the Sciences - case studies and best practice examples
National Academy of Engineering - online Ethics Center for Engineering and Research
NIH Bioethics Resources - information for biomedical and behavioral researchers
NIH Office of Extramural Research - FAQ's and ethics information
Office of Research Integrity - multiple RCR related resources
Office of Research Integrity - “The Lab”
Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) - resources for biomedical, social science, behavioral and education research
Resources for Research Ethics Education - research ethics education resources and tools
Syracuse University - Video Vignettes on Research Ethics and Academic Integrity 
UC Davis/ Office of Research Integrity - Lab Management Video Vignettes 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Responsible Conduct of Research Video Vignettes 

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