Responsible Conduct of Research
Purdue is reaffirming its commitment to research integrity and responsible conduct of research, ensuring that all researchers are trained to conduct their research in an informed and responsible manner, by implementing a new Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Standard (S20), effective July 1st, 2020.
RCR topics include authorship, mentoring, peer-review, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, data management, and reproducibility of research results.
The RCR training standard applies to all faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students of the University who design and conduct research and/or report and publish research outcomes. It has two components:
general online RCR training offered through the CITI Program, and
research field-specific RCR training that includes education on specific RCR issues faced by research fields.
The deadline for training completion varies by training and researcher types, as detailed in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About RCR
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Why do I need to complete the training requirement? |
National survey results indicate that the public is increasingly concerned about the integrity of the scientific process and the robustness of reported results. Purdue aims to maintain and promote a culture of research integrity among all who conduct research in our system, from the newest researcher to the most experienced. Training in the responsible conduct of research provides exposure to important current information on critical topics faced by researchers, both in general (as covered by the online training) and in specific fields. In addition, several federal sponsors (NSF, USDA/NIFA, NIH) require training on RCR as a condition of granting research funding. |
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Who is affected by the new RCR standard? |
All Researchers at Purdue. A Researcher is a person who is responsible for the design, conduct and reporting of research; it includes the following categories of employees and students:
With the exception of those receiving funding from specific federal granting agencies (currently NSF, USDA/NIFA, NIH), both field-specific and online training are completed one time only during a researcher's career at Purdue, with no required renewals. |
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What is required to complete the RCR training and how long will it take? |
The RCR Training requirement has two components:
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When and how often should I complete the RCR training requirement? |
The deadlines for completion of the RCR training requirement are a function of Sponsor requirements and the career level of the individual researcher. Note that with the exception of those receiving funding from specific federal granting agencies, both field-specific and online training segments are completed one time only during a researcher's career at Purdue, with no required renewals.
* Grants refers to research grants from federal agencies that require RCR training, currently: NSF, USDA/NIFA, and NIH.
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Completing General Online RCR Training
Purdue uses the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) for researcher online training, including RCR training. For each assigned RCR module, review of the materials and completion of the quiz takes about 30 minutes. Based on this estimate, completion of the required modules will take approximately two hours for undergraduate researchers and four hours for faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate student researchers. Researchers may choose to complete the required course in multiple sessions, choosing to complete a subset of modules per session. A minimum score of 80% is required to pass the assigned core RCR online course. Materials can be reviewed multiple times and quizzes can be repeated until a passing score is attained.
Detailed guidance for completion of the general online RCR training requirement is available here. Abbreviated versions of the guidance tailored to a researcher’s circumstances are available below.
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How do I access the CITI Program and complete the core online RCR training if I am an existing CITI Program user and my CITI account is already synchronized with my Purdue Career Account? |
Follow these ten steps to access the CITI Program and complete Purdue’s core online RCR training requirement.
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How do I access the CITI Program and complete the core online RCR training if I am a new CITI Program user, or have not yet linked my CITI Program account to my Purdue Career account? |
You will need to associate your SSO Purdue account with an existing CITI account or create a new account. Follow these steps to get ready and complete the desired core online RCR training.
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How do I update my Institutional Affiliation and/or Transfer course credit(s) between Purdue and another Institution using my SSO account in CITI? |
Once logged into the CITI Program, from the “Institutional Courses” page, click on the “Add Affiliation” button to transfer credits to or from Purdue. Note: Transferred credits for training completed at other Institutions may or may not match the required credits/modules for Purdue’s core online RCR training courses and you may need to complete additional modules to satisfy the online RCR training requirements. If you no longer wish to be associated with a particular Institution/University, you can click on the “remove affiliation” link on the Institutional Courses page and follow CITI instructions. |
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Beyond training in RCR, researchers who work with human and/or animal subjects, biological or radiological materials, or export/ITAR controlled topics, are required to take additional, specialized training. Some of these training courses are also offered through the CITI Program but are not a substitute for RCR training. Contact RCRTraining@purdue.edu if you encounter any difficulties logging into the CITI Program or need assistance with any RCR training matters. |
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Completing Research Field-Specific RCR Training
Field-specific RCR training is not a “one size fits all” and is best considered within the contexts of RCR issues faced by a given research field. Each individual researcher is responsible ultimately for research integrity and responsible conduct of research and must understand the impact of their actions on their career, lab, field, and society.
Units (i.e., colleges and research centers) in which researchers are nested stand ready to assist in recommending field-specific training in the proper conduct of their research projects. Units or sub-units (e.g., departments and programs) may direct their researchers toward focused training opportunities that could include RCR workshops offered by the Graduate School, departmental or college RCR seminars and/or discussions of case studies, or PI-led research group discussions. Units may choose to have their sub-units decide what is best for researchers nested within specific fields. Duration and frequency of field-specific training is set by each unit, with the general rule that the training should be a minimum of 2 hours total. Whenever possible, topics for discussions should be tailored to the career stage of the researcher (e.g., undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, faculty). Contact your college's associate for dean for research or your department/center director for suggested field-specific offerings.
Field-Specific RCR Training Opportunities through Enrollment in Ethics Courses at Purdue
Purdue offers a number of courses focused on “ethics”, all of which include field-specific RCR topics. A current list of ethics courses is available here. Completing one of these courses fulfills the field-specific RCR training requirement. Purdue undergraduate and graduate students can register for these courses directly, as appropriate, and then use the RCR tracking application to indicate completion. Non-students can request a fee remission for auditing an ethics course through the formal process that includes completion and submission of the form available here.
RCR Training Opportunities through Purdue’s Research Integrity Office
In addition to training opportunities offered by colleges, schools, and centers, Purdue’s Research Integrity Office conducts customized RCR workshops that can be taken to help satisfy requirements for field-specific training. Please contact Purdue’s Research Integrity Officer, Professor James Mohler (jlmohler@purdue.edu), to arrange for one of these workshops or to find out more about the offerings provided through the Graduate School Professional Development Office.
Additional guidance for colleges, departments, and research centers is available here.
When deciding what kind of field-specific RCR training might be best for a given unit or sub-unit, one may start with the “big picture” question:
Why should we be concerned about field-specific RCR training?Because our goal as researchers is to advance knowledge and humanity, the conduct and outcome of our work and the methods that we use must be trustworthy, for our own benefit and that of the general public (who often pay for our research). National survey results show that public trust in research is eroding due to many factors, including mistrust in the scientific method and real or perceived crises of research reproducibility and replicability in a number of fields. We must strive to preserve and promote a culture of research integrity at Purdue that will ensure public trust in all we do.
General online RCR training in CITI focuses on the following topics: (1) Collaborative Research, (2) Conflicts of Interest, (3) Data Management, (4) Mentoring, (5) Peer Review, (6) Plagiarism, (7) Authorship, and (8) Research Misconduct. What the CITI training does NOT do is allow for discussion of these issues and other field-specific concerns such as reproducibility of research results. In designing and identifying field-specific RCR curriculum/topics, units or sub-units may want to consider including discussion of these topics and also address questions such as the following:
- Are there recent cases of research misconduct in our field? If yes, discuss these cases and their root causes, including how we can work together to prevent such occurrences here at Purdue.
- Are there real or perceived crises of reproducibility and replicability in our field? If yes, discuss how these can be addressed and prevented.
- Are there questionable research practices in our field? What are they are why are they questionable?
- What are the prevalent research methods used in our field and are we preparing our students/trainees to use them appropriately (e.g., ensuring that they are trained in using appropriate statistical analysis methods)? Note that presentations from experts on data analysis and statistical methods could be considered field-specific RCR training.
Tracking Your RCR Training
Online Application for Monitoring and Tracking Completion of RCR Training
The Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships (EVPRP) has developed a new online application for monitoring and tracking completion of RCR training requirements for all Purdue researchers, system-wide.
Tracking General Online RCR Training
Purdue researchers’ online RCR training records are downloaded daily from the CITI Program and captured in the online application. Researchers who do not complete their RCR training requirements by the designated deadlines will receive a notification from the system to do so. Researchers can monitor the status of their own general online training using the My RCR Training module in the researcher training online application.
Tracking Research Field-Specific RCR Training
Individual researchers can monitor and enter their own field-specific training in the new online application (click on the My RCR Training tab at the top of the page).
Anyone with a Purdue career account can complete and upload training information into the online application for themselves, their respective research groups, departments, colleges and/or research centers. Contact RCRTraining@purdue.edu for assistance with this process.
RCR Resources and Contacts
RCR Presentation
RCR Infographics (provided by the Office of Research Integrity, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)
Questions?
For questions email RCRTraining@purdue.edu. Contact Purdue’s Office of Regulatory Affairs staff for any assistance you may need with the new RCR training requirement.
