The Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of Buffalo State University is committed to maintaining high standards of ethical conduct in all aspects of its work, including research and education. Appropriate instruction in Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) is an essential component of the professional development of our researchers at all career levels.
Effective January 4, 2010, any institution that receives National Science Foundation (NSF) funding must certify in its grant proposals that: “…it has a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who will be supported by NSF to conduct research.” (See http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rcr.jsp.) The institutional official must certify that the institution has a plan for compliance with the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement and will track who has been trained.
Effective January 25, 2010, the National Institutes of Health (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. For an update on this NIH requirement for instruction in RCR, please visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-019.html.
In order to meet this obligation, the Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of Buffalo State University has identified an online RCR training tutorial that shall, for the present time, serve as the University’s means of providing the requisite training. The Research Foundation has entered into a partnership with the University of Miami’s Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). This program meets the policy requirements and consists of eleven elective modules, each focused on a different aspect of Responsible Conduct of Research. The content of each module is developed by experts in the associated fields and there is a short quiz before moving to the next module. The software also provides a grade book which shows the scores of each of the applicable quizzes, as well as the modules left to be completed. To satisfy the training requirement, the affected person must register to take the web-based educational program. The training tutorial is located at https://www.citiprogram.org/.
Elective Modules:
Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research
Research Misconduct
Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership
Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship
Peer Review
Mentor and Trainee Responsibilities
Animal Welfare
Conflicts of Interest and Commitment
Collaborative Research
Human Subjects
The CITI RCR Course Completion Page
In all cases where a federal grant to the Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of Buffalo State University includes an RCR training provision, affected persons shall be required to successfully complete the RCR training tutorial at the aforementioned URL prior to any involvement in the research. The Research Foundation shares responsibility with its project directors/principal investigators for ensuring that all affected persons (e.g., undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers) are aware of this policy and shall not permit participation by these individuals in the research prior to the successful completion of the tutorial. Accordingly, no student or other affected person shall be paid from a grant (for which RCR regulations apply) for any period of time that pre-dates completion of the tutorial.
CITI Program New Learner Account Registration
On the homepage click on the "Register" button located in the blue log in box
Complete the registration form
Be sure to select SUNY Buffalo State as the participating institution
Will you be requesting CME / CEU credits for the course(s) you are about to complete if the cost per course (4-6 credits) is only $80.00/course? Choose No
Choose – Responsible Conduct of Research and select Social and Behavioral
The software will track your progress through your required and, if you choose, your optional courses. After each module you will be prompted to take a short quiz before moving to the next module. The software also provides a grade book which shows you which modules you have completed, the scores you received on each of the applicable quizzes, as well as the modules you have left to complete. You are provided the option to retake any quiz for which you receive a low score. An average of 80% or higher on the quizzes that follow each module is considered acceptable.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding this policy can be accessed at https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/rcr/rcrfaqs.jsp. Questions related to the training with respect to Responsible Conduct of Research should be directed to Gina Game, Research Compliance Manager, at 716.878.5723 or gameg@buffalostate.edu.
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