Responsible Conduct in Research

Ethics Education and the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) at LMU

Loyola Marymount University is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical behavior and integrity in research, scholarship, and creative endeavors and expects all faculty, staff, and students to engage in responsible and ethical conduct. Part of this commitment is complying with federal agencies’ requirements that grant recipients complete Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) training as mandated by the amended America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (42 U.S.C. 1862o–1) and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (“CHIPS and Science Act”). This requirement applies to grants from:

• the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• the National Science Foundation (NSF)
• the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Who Must be Trained?

Frequency and Format of Training

*Note: NIH requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), education grant, and dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research. This Notice applies to the following programs: D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R; it does not yet apply to R01 or R15. 

PIs applying to NIH funding mechanisms subject to RECR training requirements must consult with ORSP to develop a compliant RECR training plan to include in the application prior to its submission.

This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.

For NSF proposals submitted on or after July 31, 2023, PIs, other senior personnel, undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers must complete RECR training before engaging in research. This requirement is applicable to individuals paid salary, wages, or stipends from an NSF award. This training requirement also applies to students receiving scholarships, tuition remission, and/or stipends from NSF while enrolled in an academic program that includes a requirement to conduct research.

Principal Investigators of active NIH, NSF, and USDA grants must provide the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects with verification that the applicable parties impacted by the grant have completed the RECR training.

The LMU Plan for Fulfilling the RCR Requirement

The CITI public access course in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research is available to the LMU research community free of charge. This course has tracks for learners in Biomedical, Social & Behavioral Research, Physical Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering.

The core elements of RECR include the following:

1. Authorship
2. Data Management
3. Research Involving Human Subjects (IRB)
4. Using Animal Subjects in Research (IACUC)
5. Peer Review
6. Conflicts of Interest
7. Research Misconduct
8. Collaborative Research
9. Mentoring and Healthy Research Environments

How to Begin

1. Go to www.citiprogram.org to register for CITI online training.
2. Click on “New Users Register Here.”
3. Under “Select your institution or organization” page select Loyola Marymount University. 
4. Next, proceed to create your own username, password, and then select the course and Learner Group.
5. You do not need to register for CEUs.

Once you have completed the preceding steps you are logged in and registered for the course. You may begin the appropriate course or log out and return at another time. If you chose to log out, when you return to the CITI homepage you will not need to register again. You will log in with the username and password you have already created.

Upon completion of the RECR course, you will receive a certificate that you can download. ORSP will remind faculty/staff with funding from designated federal agencies of their RECR requirements when an award is funded and at the beginning of summer and before spring semester. PIs are responsible for having their students and others on their projects complete the training, collecting the completion certificates, and forwarding them to orsp@lmu.edu. ORSP will maintain documentation of compliance.

Helpful Website Addresses:

• NIH RCR
• NSF RECR
• USDA RECR
• On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research (National Academy of Sciences): this free publication (PDF) provides additional information on the responsible and ethical conduct of research.
• The National Center for Principled Leadership and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers a number of resources and educational materials for faculty that can be used in training. 
• This short video by SciToons provides a good summary of the importance of ethics in research. 
• Online Ethics Center (OEC) and America COMPETES: https://onlineethics.org/oec-and-america-competes-act

If you have any questions, please contact

Sally Southwick, ORSP Compliance Coordinator, sally.southwick@lmu.edu or orsp@lmu.edu