Responsible research training + resources

NSF Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research training

The National Science Foundation now requires RECR training for all levels of personnel supported on NSF-sponsored projects.

NSF requires all levels of personnel — including undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty and research staff named or supported on NSF-funded projects — to have training in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. This expanded compliance requirement includes both employees and student trainees and flows down to all subawardees on NSF awards.

The requirement was recently expanded to include faculty and other senior personnel on awards submitted or received after July 31, 2023. In addition to expanded coverage, the training curriculum must now include mentor training and mentorship.

• PIs, co-I's, and named senior or key personnel on a project must have documentation of RECR training at the time of the award. Going forward, documentation of RCR training will be required for PIs, co-I's and named senior personnel on an award prior to award setup and release of award funds.
  
  PIs are responsible for ensuring project personnel have either had RECR training at time of hire or promptly complete the training just after hire.
   
• Students, postdocs and other research personnel are required to complete RECR training within 6 weeks of employment (or the period of employment, if less than 6 weeks).

Learn more about NSF's expanded RECR requirement

CITI Program RECR training

Successful completion of the CITI Program Responsible Conduct of Research online course currently satisfies the NSF training requirement. The Office of Research is working with partners across campus to align funding agency requirements with existing KU policies and educational goals. Agency requirements are evolving, and we will actively communicate changes as they occur. 

The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative, or CITI, provides all KU researchers with access to a variety of research-related compliance modules, including the Responsible Conduct of Research course. CITI is a widely trusted provider of research compliance training and draws on experts and leaders in their fields for content development of its courses.

Training documentation

CITI Program records successful completion of the RECR course online. Individuals may also print/save a certificate after successful course completion. 

As of Sept. 1, 2024, the CITI Program RCR Basic course has been divided into two parts:

• RCR Basic Course Part 1: Authorship, Plagiarism, Data Management, Mentoring and Healthy Research Environments, Research Misconduct, Research Ethics and Society
   
• RCR Basic Course Part 2: Collaborative Research, Peer Review, Conflicts of Interest and Commitment, Research Involving Human Subjects, Using Animal Subjects in Research, Financial Responsibility

Those required to take the full CITI RCR Basic course must now register for and complete parts 1 and 2 of the course.

Those who registered for the single-part version of the course — available prior to Sept. 1, 2024 — will still have that version available to complete. The completion certificate for the single version of the course will satisfy the NSF and USDA-NIFA RCR requirements.

How to register for CITI Responsible Conduct of Research Basic course

1. Click the Access CITI training button below.
2. Enter “University of Kansas-Lawrence” into the search box to initiate the KU sign-on authentication. Log in using your KU online ID and password.
3. If this is your first time signing into CITI at KU, follow these 3 steps:
   1. Click “Continue”
   2. Select “I don’t have a CITI Program account and I need to create one”
   3. Select “Click here to create new CITI Program account”
4. Your CITI homepage: On the page after signing in, you’ll see your name in the upper right corner.
   This is your “CITI home page” for all your training activity in CITI.
5. Scroll down until you see Learner Tools for University of Kansas – Lawrence and
   click the first link, Add a Course.
6. On the Select Curriculum page, scroll down toQuestion 3 and select the RCR Basic Course Part 1 and RCR Basic Course Part 2.
7. IMPORTANT: Keep scrolling all the way to the bottom and click the blue Submit button.
8. You’ll return to your CITI homepage and see the RCR Basic courses under Active Courses.
9. Click the Start Now button to open the course.

iThenticate: Publish with confidence

Through a collaboration between the Office of Research and the Office of the Provost, the KU community has access to software that empowers faculty and students to “publish with confidence” by checking publications and dissertations for plagiarism.

iThenticate compares KU publications against a comprehensive database of the world’s top published works. The software is available via single sign-on at KU's iThenticate login page. Simply enter your KU credentials, agree to the terms of service, and submit a document for review.

You may also manipulate settings to exclude quotes, bibliographies, certain phrases and other elements. Learn about managing documents, understanding the “similarity report” and more by browsing iThenticate’s user guide.

We encourage KU faculty and students to take advantage of this tool to ensure the highest standards of research integrity. We all want to present our research in the best light possible; iThenticate can help.