University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Back to Educational Programs

Policy

This policy identifies the plan to provide training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) to all undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers involved in National Science Foundation (NSF) - funded research or educational activities at UALR. This policy is motivated by the legal imperative imposed on every research institution to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility to conduct research in a manner compatible with evolving societal standards and reflected in Section 7009 of the America Competes Act of 2007, which states:

“The Director (of the National Science Foundation) shall require that each institution that applies for financial assistance from the Foundation for science and engineering research or education describe in its grant proposal a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers participating in the proposed research project.”

Definitions

1. America Competes Act. In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed and President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act of 2007 (a.k.a. America Competes Act).(1)
2. Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) is a subscription service providing research ethics training/education to all members of the research community through the University of Miami - Florida. To participate, learners must be affiliated with a CITI participating organization, of which UALR is one.
3. Research is a systematic investigation, including research, development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.
4. Systematic Investigation attempts to answer research questions (in some research, this would be a hypothesis) and
• is methodologically driven; that is, it collects data or information in an organized and consistent way;
• the data or information are analyzed in some way, be it quantitative or qualitative data; and
• conclusions are drawn from the results.
5. Generalized Knowledge is knowledge that is “expressed in theories, principles, and statements of relationships” that can be widely applied to our experiences. Generalizable knowledge is usually created to share with other people, such as through presentations and publications. Masters’ theses and Ph.D. dissertations are considered to present generalizable knowledge. Generalizable knowledge would include on or more of the following concepts:
• The knowledge contributes to a theoretical framework of an established body of knowledge.
• The primary beneficiaries of the research are other researchers, scholars, and practitioners in the field of study.
• Publication, presentaiton, or other distribution of the results is intended to inform the field of study.
• The results are expected to be generalized to a larger population beyond the site of data collection.
• The results are intended to be replicated in other settings.
• The results may be presented as a web-based publication for professional purposes.
6. Responsible Conduct of Research Training consists of any instructional instrument designed to deliver education/training in at least the following nine areas, defined by the Federal Office of Research Integrity, related to the ethical conduct of research(2):
• Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing, and Ownership
• Conflict of Interest and Commitment
• Human Subjects
• Animal Welfare
• Research Misconduct
• Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
• Mentor/Trainee Responsibilities
• Peer Review
• Collaborative Science

Purpose and Basic Principles

UALR recognizes the importance of providing instruction in the responsible conduct of research to its research community, while at the same time, being compliant with federal law.  This policy represents the good-faith effort of UALR to meet the letter and spirit of section 7009 of the 2007 America Competes Act.

In addition to fulfilling federal compliance regulations, this policy will provide collateral benefits with respect to:

• increasing knowledge of, and sensitivity, to issues surrounding the responsible conduct of research;
• improving the ability of participants to make ethical and legal choices in the face of conflicts involving scientific research;
• developing appreciation for the range of accepted scientific practices for conducting research;
• providing information about the regulations, policies, statutes, and guidelines that govern the conduct of federally-funded research; and
• developing positive attitudes toward life-long learning in matters involving the responsible conduct of research.

To Whom Does this Policy Apply?

It is required that all undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UALR and post-doctoral researchers employed at UALR involved with any research or educational activity funded by the NSF must satisfy this policy.  In addition, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at any institution and post-doctoral researchers employed at any institution involved in an NSF-funded research or educational activity subcontracted through UALR must comply with this policy.

Timeline

It is required that all undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers currently involved in an NSF-funded research or educational activity at UALR or on a subcontract from UALR at another institution must complete an RCR training program by December 31, 2011.  As new post-doctoral undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers become involved in NSF-funded research or educational activities, completion of an RCR training program is required prior to involvement with the project.

Minimal RCR Training Program

Satisfying the minimal training requirements of this policy can be accomplished in a variety of ways.  The simplest and most straight-forward method of satisfying the RCR requirement is to successfully complete the online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) RCR training module(3). This program meets the requirements of the America Competes Act in both letter and spirit. In lieu of the CITI RCR module, academic or other institutional units may develop training programs that possess equal or greater depth and are more specifically suited to their needs. These programs must address at least the nine areas defined in Section II.4 of this policy and be approved by the Responsible Conduct of Research Training Committee.

A grade of at least 80 percent is required to have successfully completed the CITI course. CITI automatically archives course grades. Records of course completion are accessible through CITI by the individual taking the course and the UALR Research Compliance Officer (RCO) as the institutional liaison to CITI. The passing requirement of any alternative course will be defined in the approval process by the Responsible Conduct of Research Training Committee.

All RCR training certifications expire three years after the date of program completion. Therefore, in order to remain current, certification must be renewed at least every three years.

Policy Compliance

It is highly desirable that all those required to complete RCR training do so in a timely manner. All undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, identified in Section IV, will be expected to complete the CITI training or other approved program by the time defined in Section V. Failure to meet the defined timeline will result in any of a variety of disciplinary actions including, but not limited to:

• formal reprimand;
• failure to be permitted to register for coursework in future semesters;
• failure to graduate;
• freezing of sponsored program funds;
• ineligibility to submit future proposals through UALR; and,
• separation from UALR.

When violations of this policy are identified,  they will be brought to the attention of the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) for consideration. Upon consideration of the circumstances surrounding the violation of the policy, the RIO will make a recommendation to the Vice Provost for Research for disciplinary action. The Vice Provost for Research will forward the RIO’s recommendation along with his/her comments to the Institutional Official for final decision.

Responsible Conduct of Research Training Committee

The Responsible Conduct of Research Committee will be a standing committee in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. The committee consists of the Research Compliance Officer (chair); Associate Dean of the Graduate School; Research Integrity Officer; chairs of the Institutional Research Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC); Director of ORSP; and the Vice Provost for Research.

Responsibilities

Research Compliance Officer (RCO)

The Research Compliance Officer will serve as the chair of the RCR Training Committee. In this capacity, (s)he will receive proposals from units proffering alternative RCR training programs to the CITI modules and present them for consideration to the full committee. In addition, (s)he will have access to and be the institutional custodian of all CITI and other records related to the completion of RCR training. As such, the RCO will be responsible to cross-check the names of individuals on NSF-funded projects against CITI records to assure training compliance.

Responsible Conduct of Research Committee

The Responsible Conduct of Research Training Committee will meet on call to consider proposals for alternative RCR training programs and/or to re-evaluate institutional training needs in the area of RCR. The committee may be convened at any time at the request of the VPR/DGS or RCO.

Principal Investigators of NSF-Funded Research or Educational Activities

Principal investigators involved in any NSF-funded research or educational activity must provide the names and UALR identification numbers of any undergraduate and graduate student and post-doctoral researcher on the UALR campus and the names of similar individuals at a subcontracting institution involved in any NSF-funded research or educational activity to the UALR Research Compliance Officer prior to their involvement with the funded activity.

References

1. http://www.nist.gov/director/ocla/Public_Laws/PL110-69.pdf
2. http://ori.dhhs.gov/education/
3. https://www.citiprogram.org/

Procedure for:
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training Policy
Policy Number 603.5

Any academic or administrative unit may request approval of an alternative program to fulfill the federal requirement of RCR training. At a minimum, the proposed program must address the nine areas identified in Definition #6, Responsible Conduct of Research Training.

The procedure to request such approval includes:

1. Develop a syllabus for the program in sufficient detail to enable the Research Compliance Officer and the RCR Committee to ascertain its content and congruence with the policy. In addition, a definition of level of performance necessary to successfully complete the program must be a component of the syllabus.
2. Obtain the approval of the department chair/unit director and appropriate dean.
3. Submit the syllabus with the appropriate academic approvals to the Research Compliance Office (RCO) for consideration by the RCR Committee.
4. The Committee may accept the syllabus, reject it, or accept it with modifications.
5. Within two business days of the Committee’s decision, the RCO will notify the director of the academic/administrative unit, with a copy to the dean, of the Committee’s decision.

Procedure for Using the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Website

1. Go to www.citiprogram.org and log into your account.  If this is your first visit to the CITI website, you must register as a New User and create your personal account.  Click on Register Here. Under the Select Your Institution or Organization, click on the Participating Institution dropdown menu, and select University of Arkansas, Little Rock. Continue to answer questions 2-6. Remember to write down your username and password for future use. Click Submit.  If you already have a CITI account, use your username and password to login.
2. After signing in, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Add a Course or Update Your Learner Groups for University of Arkansas, Little Rock.
3. Under the section labeled Select Curriculum - University of Arkansas, Little Rock, scroll down to Question 3 for Responsible Conduct of Research Modules. Choose the radio button that most closely corresponds to your field of study, and click Continue. This will add the RCR course to the My Courses section. Click the red link to enter the course.
4. Read the Integrity Assurance Statement and select the radio button to attest that you have read the statement. Click Submit.
5. A screen comes up showing 11 Elective Modules, covering a broad range of RCR topics. You must read each of these “Elective Modules” to complete the course. For the majority of these topic areas, a short quiz will need to be completed at the conclusion of the section.
6. To keep track of which sections you have completed, click Go to Gradebook for this Course. This will brick you back to the Elective Modules screen, where a link to the section just completed is highlighted in green and records a date for completion.

For additional information, you may complete the Optional Modules.