Requirements for Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

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• Responsible Conduct of Research Courses (in-person and online)
• Faculty of Arts and Sciences Guidance
• Agency-Specific Guidance

Responsible Conduct of Research Courses

The In-Person RCR course is open to all Harvard-affiliated individuals and offered in Cambridge two times a year-- January, and August.

The next course has been scheduled for the mornings of August 19th, 21st & 23rd. To register, visit: http://bit.ly/rcr_reg

Course Description: Available free of charge to any Harvard-affiliated individuals, RCR is a highly recommended “best practices” course for those desiring to deepen their knowledge of ethical research and responsible conduct. It is also an excellent professional opportunity for anyone interested in furthering a career in research. This particular course is not mandatory. However, it does fulfill the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) requirements for formal Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) instruction. The course is approximately eight hours long, with significant faculty involvment, and uses discussions and case studies to examine basic ethical and regulatory requirements for conducting research. Topics covered include: research and professional conduct; responsible authorship and publication; mentor-mentee relationships; conflicts of interest; peer review; grant writing and budgeting; intellectual property; data acquisition and management; ownership of data and biological samples; and research involving human and animal subjects. Course requirements include attendance at all lectures, participation in class discussions, and completion of prework and homework assignments. A certificate will be issued to all participants upon successful course completion.

CITI RCR Training is Also Available: The Office of the Vice Provost for Research (VPR) at Harvard has also licensed an online RCR training program from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). The CITI "Course in the Responsible Conduct of Research" is a public-access course available without charge to the research community. While the CITI program does not satisfy the requirements of NIH RCR training because it is completely online, this course is highly informative and contains all of the major elements of RCR training. The CITI program may be used to satisfy the NSF RCR requirements, or to supplement the in-person RCR course described above. Information on the CITI Course can be found on the VPR website: http://vpr.harvard.edu/training/research_integrity

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Guidance

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) require RCR training. However, the two agencies differ in their specifications with regard to content and delivery. There are many RCR courses that satisfy the training requirements for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs (see one description below). RAS works with FAS departments and centers to identify individuals who require RCR training and to verify that these individuals have received training.

NSF applications do not require a description of the RCR training to be included in grant applications. The institution must certify at the time of proposal submission that it has a plan to offer appropriate training in the responsible and ethical conduct of research.

For guidance regarding RCR descriptions in grant proposals, please use the following course description and contact your departmental grant manager, Susan Gomes susan_gomes@harvard.edu and/or Karen Woodward Massey kwmassey@fas.harvard.edu .

Agency Specific Guidance

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 instruction in responsible conduct of research. This must include 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 is 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. See below for a course description to include in NIH grant applications that have a requirement for RCR training. For more information, see the NIH Update on the Requirement for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research.

NSF requires each institution that submits proposals for science and engineering research or education to have a plan in place to provide appropriate training and oversight to all undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will participate in the proposed research project. However, the NSF has given institutions much more flexibility than NIH in providing RCR training, stating that it is the responsibility of each institution to determine both the content and the delivery method that will meet the institution's specific needs for RCR training. For more information, please see the NSF RCR web page.

Please see the chart below for a comparison and summary of the NIH and NSF requirements:

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[Last modified: 06/28/13 ]