Responsible Conduct of Research

“Responsible conduct of research is defined as the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research.”

The University of Southern Mississippi
Updated Requirements for the Instruction in the
Responsible Conduct of Research
Office of Research Integrity

Research Integrity

The University of Southern Mississippi’s Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has a goal to guide and serve the University’s research community through the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) program. To sustain this goal, the University  has authorized mandatory education in the RCR for all Principal Investigators (PIs) and significant personnel participating in sponsored projects, including staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students.

While research integrity is a crucial factor in this program, the RCR curriculum is intended to follow the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) April 2011 update on its requirement of training in the RCR and the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) execution of the America COMPETES Act.

Requirements

The University of Southern Mississippi is committed to promoting, supporting, and educating ethical considerations through the RCR program.

1.      On-line Training

On-line training is available and required for all principal investigators (PIs), staff, post doctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).

From NIH’s April 2011 requirement for RCR instruction, Instructional Components, NIH recognizes that instruction in responsible conduct of research occurs formally and informally in educational settings and that informal instruction occurs throughout the research training experience. NIH has provided a guideline for “formal” training. It reflects the accumulated experiences and the best practices of the scientific community over the past two decades.

2.      Face-to-Face Training

NIH’s format for formal RCR training requires substantial face-to-face discussions among the participating trainees/fellows/scholars/participants; a combination of didactic and small-group discussions (e.g. case studies); and participation of research training faculty members in instruction in responsible conduct of research are highly encouraged. While on-line courses can be a valuable supplement to instruction in responsible conduct of research, online instruction is not considered adequate as the sole means of instruction. A plan that employs only online coursework for instruction in responsible conduct of research will not be considered acceptable, except in special instances of short-term training programs or unusual or well-justified circumstances. NIH considers acceptable programs to generally involve at least eight contact hours of face-to-face training.

Face-to-Face Instructional Courses

Upon completion of the CITI online RCR courses, PI’s with active grants/proposals and the PI’s graduate students (if applicable) will be expected to attend eight hours of face-to-face training.

The first face-to-face training opportunity was held on August 23, 2011. It was a 4 hour workshop hosted by USM’s Office of Research Integrity with professionals discussing several topics of Responsible Conduct of Research. Following NIH and NSF guidelines, topics that were discussed included, Research Ethics, IACUC (Animal Care), Peer Review and Authorship, Mentor/Mentee Responsibilities and Relationships, Data Management and Collaborate Research, Conflict of Interest, Research Misconduct and Policies for Handling Misconduct.  

The workshop was extremely successful with near capacity in attendance. All of the attendees have been credited with 4 hours of face-to-face training.

In addition to the 4 hour workshop on August 23, the Office of Research Integrity will host a series of monthly one hour sessions offered throughout the year to allow everyone the opportunity to achieve the full 8 hours of suggested contact time.

If you have any questions concerning the seminars or RCR training please direct your inquiries to: