GMU RCR Training
George Mason University has developed a training plan to implement NSF and NIH requirements. ORIA facilitates an 8-hour face to face faculty led course in the responsible conduct of research available for all trainees and required for certain NIH awards (see Notice NOT-OD-10-019, and updates NOT-OD-22-055 and NOT-OD-21-152). This training course is interactive with a mix of lectures, case studies, and scenarios discussed by participants. The course is required at each career stage and at least once every four years.
Topics covered include: societal impacts of scientific research/the researcher as a responsible member of society; responsible authorship; safe research environments; conflict of interest and conflict of commitment; research misconduct; data acquisition, analysis, management, sharing, ownership; secure and ethical data use; responsible peer review, collaborative research, and mentor/mentee relationships. Trainees receive a certificate of participation upon completion of the training program.
CITI Program
ORIA also offers an online training program for faculty, staff and students. This program is available through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).
The course is designed to be used by institutions or organizations to provide a comprehensive Basic course in the RCR. The course is also flexible enough that class room instructors of research methods courses can use this online tutorial as an adjunct to the class room instruction. Most of the materials in the CITI RCR Course are in the public domain and produced by contractors of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Research Integrity (ORI) through the RCR Resource Development Contract program. The development of this course site was funded in part by the ORI.
Some case studies are used from www.onlineethics.org with permission.
How to Register and Access the CITI RCR Training Program:
New User Instructions
Go to www.citiprogram.org and select New Users Register Here.
On the CITI Registration page
- Select your institution or organization.
- Under Participating Institutions, select George Mason University from the dropdown box.
- Create your Username and Password of at least 8 characters.
- Create a security question and answer.
- Enter your name as it should appear on your certificate.
- Enter your email address.
- Enter your gender, ethnicity and race.
- CME/CEU credits are not required by GMU.
- Complete the Course Survey question.
- Click Submit when complete.
On the next CITI Registration page
- Complete the personal information fields. Only fields with red asterisks are required.
- Click Submit when complete.
On the CITI Select Curriculum pages
- Select I am interested in the Responsible Conduct of Research Courses , then click Next.
- If you have other affiliations and would like to select multiple institutions, click Yes. If you would like to select only George Mason University as your affiliation, click No.
Once you have completed the preceding steps you are logged in and registered for the course. At this point you may begin the RCR course, listed under My Courses, or log out and return at another time.
If you choose to log out, when you return to the CITI homepage you will not need to register again. Login with the username and password you have already created.
Complete the required modules and associated quizzes. You may retake a quiz by selecting View this module again at the bottom of the Quiz Review page. Select Take the quiz at the bottom of the module.
To select a new module, select Go to the gradebook for this course.
Existing CITI User Instructions
Existing CITI users should log in using their current CITI account and access the Responsible Conduct of Research course from their account.
Additional ORIA Training
Additional training on responsible research techniques may be required depending on the type of research, materials, equipment, or activities involved.
Human Subjects Research
All individuals, whether funded or not, who wish to conduct research with humans, must also complete the CITI Human Subjects Protection course prior to initiating research with humans. For more information, see Human Subjects Education & Training
Research with Animals
All individuals, whether funded or not, who wish to conduct research involving vertebrate animals, must complete the CITI Animal Care and Use course and the animal and vivarium safety training course prior to initiating research with animals. For more information, see Animal Care and Use Training Procedures.
Laboratory Safety Training
Laboratory safety training is provided by George Mason’s Office of Risk, Safety, & Resilience. Visit the RSR Training Website or contact Environmental Health & Safety (703-993-8448) for more information on the following topics.
Laboratory Safety Orientation
All individuals, whether funded or not, who work in laboratories with chemicals must complete Laboratory Safety Orientation Training.
Bloodborne Pathogens
Individuals working with human blood or other potentially infectious materials must complete Bloodborne Pathogens training.
Biological Safety
Individuals working with infectious materials must complete Biological Safety for BSL-2 Laboratories training.
Specialized Equipment and Materials
Individuals working with other specialized equipment or laboratory materials, such as radioisotopes, are required to complete additional training.