Responsible Conduct of Research

Per the National Institute of Health (NIH): The practice of scientific investigation with integrity. It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research.

Per the National Science Foundation (NSF): The responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) is critical for excellence, as well as public trust, in science and engineering. The responsible and ethical conduct of research involves not only a responsibility to generate and disseminate knowledge with rigor and integrity, but also a responsibility to:

• conduct peer review with the highest ethical standards
• diligently protect proprietary information and intellectual property from inappropriate disclosure
• treat students and colleagues fairly and with respect.

Per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Institutions that conduct USDA-funded extramural research must foster an atmosphere conducive to research integrity, bear primary responsibility for prevention and detection of research misconduct, and maintain and effectively communicate and train their staff regarding policies and procedures.

Per TAMU SAP, RCR is generally defined as the rules, regulations, and best practices established to guide research and scholarly activities in order to product results that are honest, accurate, efficient and objective (SAP 15.99.99.M0.04).

Implementing and exercising RCR practices and procedures is crucial to maintaining standards of objectivity and achieving unbiased research results, which in turn safeguards the public’s trust in the research community’s effort. Per SAP 15.99.99.M0.04, The responsible and ethical conduct of research is critical for excellence as well as for maintaining public trust in research. It is the goal of Texas A&M University to promote a university-wide environment of responsible conduct of research (RCR), and to ensure that individuals subject to federal responsible conduct in research requirements complete responsible conduct of research training. Education and training in the ethical and responsible conduct of research are integral elements of research for all undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who engage in research in any field or who pursue advanced degrees at university facilities.

• All undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers who participate in research at Texas A&M University
• All undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, and senior personnel who are paid on or conduct research on an NSF grant
• All Program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and any staff participating on a USDA-NIFA grant
• All trainees, participants and scholars on specific NIH training grants

Please see other FAQs for additional information regarding these categories of people.

CITI RCR Training: Conducted online through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), an online provider of research ethics, compliance and professional development education.

• CITI RCR training is required for all researchers receiving NSF and USDA-NIFA funding, all undergraduate/graduate students participating in research and all postdoctoral fellows.

RCR Face-to-Face (F2F) Training: Conducted through workshops hosted by the Responsible Conduct of Research program or other approved departments across campus covering a variety of topics. These workshops may be presented in-person or via Zoom.

• RCR Face-to-Face (F2F) Workshops are required, per the Texas A&M SAP, for graduate students receiving external funding and all postdoctoral fellows. These workshops can be utilized by PI’s with NIH training grant/fellowship funding to supplement the RCR training requirements outlined in their training plans.

Both RCR CITI training and/or RCR Face-to-Face training needs to be completed once during each career stage or every four years.

All undergraduate students who are participating in internally funded research, gift-funded research, or externally funded sponsored research must complete CITI RCR Training within 60 days from their initial involvement in the research activity, unless required earlier.

In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.

Graduate students only participating in research through a course, internally funded research or by research gifts, will need to complete CITI RCR training within 60 days from their commencement of the research activity.

Graduate student participating in externally funded research will need to complete CITI RCR training within 60 days from commencement of research activity and 4 hours of RCR Face-to-Face (F2F) training within the first six months of involvement in externally funded research.

• In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.
• View and register for upcoming RCR Face-to-Face workshops. If you are unable to register through the link, please email RCR@tamu.edu with your UIN and sessions you would like to attend.

Postdoctoral researchers will need to complete CITI RCR training and 4 hours of RCR Face-to-Face (F2F) training  within 60 days of employment, regardless of their source of funding.

• In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.
• View and register for upcoming RCR Face-to-Face workshops.

Per NSF guidelines, all PIs, Co-PIs and senior personnel who are listed as responsible individuals on and/or supported by NSF Funds must receive Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Refresher training. You will need to complete RCR CITI Training to meet the updated requirements. 

In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.

Yes. Per the NSF, the RCR training requirement flows down all the sub-awardees. See NSF’s RCR FAQ for more information.

Per USDA guidelines, all Program Directors, faculty, and staff on a USDA-NIFA grant must receive Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Refresher training. You will need to complete RCR CITI Training in order to meet the updated requirements.

In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.

If you were assigned RCR CITI Training in TrainTraq, you will be redirected to the CITI website to complete it. Alternatively, view the CITI RCR Training instructions.

Follow instructions (found under step 2): CITI RCR instructions to add the correct course to your course list in CITI. Please note, the course is NOT automatically assigned in CITI, it must be added by the user.

The following groups will take RCR Basic training in CITI:

• Undergraduate students
• Graduate students
• Postdoctoral researchers

The following groups will take RCR Refresher training in CITI:

• Individuals listed as PI, CoPI, or Senior Personnel on an NSF grant
• Faculty and staff listed on and/or paid by an NSF or USDA-NIFA grant

Please note, the TrainTraq assignments for these courses are: RCR Basic – Course 2113357 and RCR Refresher – Course 2114579, however, if you do not have access to TrainTraq, the CITI RCR Training can be accessed directly by going to the CITI homepage.

Please reach out to RCR@tamu.edu if you believe you have been assigned the incorrect course.

If you have completed the CITI RCR course within the last four years at your former institution, you can transfer your completed modules from another institution to Texas A&M. Please follow the directions below:

1. Go to the CITI homepage.
2. Login using your existing credentials.
3. Click on the “Add Institutional Affiliation” link under Institutional Courses.
4. Choose “Texas A&M University” from the drop-down menu.
5. If you have completed the CITI RCR course at your previous institution, you can select the RCR course you have already taken when you update your affiliation to Texas A&M. Once transferred, you should see the RCR course in your Texas A&M Previously Completed Coursework.

Once you have affiliated your course, you will see which required modules you have received credit for from your previous institution. You may still need to complete additional modules to meet TAMU RCR requirements.

Please contact RCR@tamu.edu for assistance with this if you have issues.

No, you do not need to provide a completion certificate unless you are required to do so to your professor or department. The CITI system keeps track of all completion data.

Because these completions are updated manually, please allow 5-7 business days for the completion of this training to reflect in your TrainTraq transcript.

You can meet those requirement through a variety of options:

• RCR Workshops offered through the RCR office
• One hour of RCR credit can be earned by registering and requesting credit for completion of:
  • A Research Data Management course through the University Libraries.
  • A Mentor/Mentee course through the Graduate Mentoring Academy.
  • Participating in and submitting a request form for Lab Specific Training through your Principal Investigator.

See the RCR Workshop page for more information on all of these options.

Additionally, 4-hours of RCR F2F credit may be earned through participation in an “Equivalent Course.” See the Course Equivalents page for more information on how to obtain credit for equivalent courses.

Note: Your 4 hours must consist of 4 different topics (ex. You may not sign up for a Data Management session twice to equal 2 hours of your 4-hour requirement).

 Discussion topics will vary throughout the semester. Topics can include:

• Research misconduct
• Research Data Management
• Conflict of Interest/Commitment
• Collaborative science
• Responsible Authorship
• Plagiarism
• Peer review
• Mentoring
• Human subjects protection
• Animal Welfare
• Biosafety
• Export Controls
• Scientific Ethics
• Safe Research Environments

If our office has an approved Course Equivalent Form on file from your department/College, then yes you have met your 4 hours of RCR Face-to-Face training requirement. View the approved equivalent courses.

If you have not already, you will still need to complete the CITI RCR training that can be completed by following these directions.

No, you still need to complete the CITI RCR training.

In order to complete CITI RCR training, view our training information or follow these instructions if you do not have access to TrainTraq.

Please complete the Course Equivalent Form and return to RCR@tamu.edu. All currently approved courses can be found on our Course Equivalents page.

If you are a university employee, you will be able to track your training (CITI RCR and RCR Face-to-Face) through TrainTraq under my transcript.

Non-employees will need to reach out to RCR@tamu.edu in order to assure they are up-to-date on their training.