Research integrity is critical to for research excellence, public trust and to prepare future scientists. Institution's foster an atmosphere conducive to research integrity through prevention and detection of research misconduct by training academics and staff regarding policies and procedures. UC ANR has made provisions to provide such training online through CITI Program.

Who Needs to Take the RCR Training?

All ANR Advisors are required to complete this training because of the USDA NIFA capacity grant funding the university receives. In addition, all project directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, as well as any other staff participating in a USDA NIFA funded project or capacity grant are required to take this training.

Additional federal agencies that have adopted RCR requirements include NSF and NIH.

• NSF: All undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who are supported from NSF sponsored programs; as of July 31, 2023, the requirement is expanded to include faculty and other senior personnel.
• NIH: All trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, All trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grants.

When Should RCR Training Take Place?

• The project PI bears responsibility for ensuring that applicable project staff on USDA NIFA, NSF, or NIH awards have completed this training, in particular for any new hires or changes in personnel assigned to this project which were unknown at time of award. 

  ANR requires this training to be completed within 60 days of receiving the Training Requirement Notice and must be renewed every 3 years. 

What Subjects Must Be Included?

• When logging into the CITI Program, select one of the appropriate RCR courses below based on your research or related activity.
  • Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research Course
  • Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research Course
  • Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research Course
  • Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research Course
  • Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers
  • If you serve in an administrative capacity choose Responsible Conduct of Research for Administrators.
• USDA NIFA Requirements: The general content of the ethics training will, at a minimum, emphasize three key areas of research ethics: authorship and plagiarism, data and research integration, and reporting misconduct. Each institution will be responsible for developing its own training system, as schools will need flexibility to develop training tailored to their specific student needs. 
• NSF requirements: No minimum content requirements are specified; NSF allows the institution to determine the content of RCR training, acknowledging that training needs may vary depending on the circumstances
• NIH requirements: No specific curricular requirement. All NIH research training programs are required to consider including instruction on the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Researchers should understand topics including conflict of interest; responsible authorship; policies for handling misconduct, and data management. grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/research-integrity/rcr

References:

USDA NIFA: https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/regulations-and-guidelines/research-misconduct/responsible-ethical-conduct-research

NIH: https://researchtraining.nih.gov/resources/faq#/Research-Training-and-Career-Development?anchor=4237

NSF: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/rcr/rcrfaqs.jsp