Supporting Integrity
Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) ensures that research is objective and accurate. RECR includes authorship, data management, reproducible research, safety, conflicts of interest, collaborations, human subjects research, the use of animals in research, peer review, mentoring, and social responsibility.
Training in RECR is mandated by many funding agencies and should be an integral part of all programs. While the foundational principles for the responsible conduct of research are conserved, there are differences between disciplines. Additionally, funding agency mandates vary both by the people who must document training and also in the training that must be completed. Examples of mandates and options at UC follow, please note that this list is incomplete.
NSF mandates all undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and other senior personnel who will be supported by the NSF complete training. One mechanism to meet this requirement is to complete the RCR Basic Course through CITI Program; use detailed instructions to access and complete this training.
NIH mandates face-to-face interaction over an extended period. The College of Medicine mandates that all graduate students complete NIH compliant RECR training every 4 years. There are multiple courses at UC tailored to different audiences (e.g. bench versus clinical researchers) that meet the NIH requirement.
We are available to discuss what responsible conduct of research is informally, in seminars, or workshops.
If you need help identifying appropriate RECR training please contact us.