Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Training

General Information

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training is required by certain federal sponsors, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Refer to the UH Institutional Plan for RCR Training for details on which types of federal awards require RCR training and who must complete the training.

In order to meet the RCR training requirement, UH utilizes the online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program. RCR training through CITI must be completed at least once and should be done within 30 days of hire or project involvement. After completing the online CITI RCR course, the participant will be issued a completion report from CITI. Please maintain records of your RCR course completion.

How to access the CITI Program for UH

  1. Go the CITI Program website, and log in through the UH single-sign-on dialog. If you already have a CITI account, you will be taken to your member Welcome page. If you do not already have a CITI account, continue to step 2.
  2. Scroll through the list of organizations, find and select University of Hawaii.
    • IMPORTANT: Be sure to register through the University of Hawaii affiliation to avoid registration fees.
  3. Follow the prompts to create your account.

Selecting the RCR course in CITI

  1. On the My Courses tab in the Institutional Courses section, click the View Courses button next to University of Hawaii.
  2. Select the Add a Course button. Or you may also find it in the Learner Tools for University of Hawaii section.
  3. On the Select Curriculum screen, “Question 1 – Do you conduct research in any of the following settings? (This question is required. Choose all that apply.)” Check off the box for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and click the Next button.
  4. You will be taken to “Question 7 – Please make your selection below to receive one of the courses in the Responsible Conduct of Research. (Choose one answer.)” The following courses are available:
    • Biomedical and Biological Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers
    • Responsible Conduct of Research for Administrators

    Select the discipline that is closest to your research area and click the Next button.

  5. A confirmation message “You are now enrolled in the course(s) you selected” will be displayed on the My Courses tab.
  6. In the Courses Ready to Begin section, you will find the newly added RCR course. Click the Start Now button to begin the RCR training.

A CITI RCR course may take 4 or more hours to complete. CITI keeps track of your progress allowing you to complete the course over several sessions.

Note: Should you need cross-disciplinary RCR training in CITI, please go through steps 2-4 above to add an additional course. Certain basic modules are shared between the CITI RCR courses so you may need to take only a few additional modules to complete a secondary CITI RCR course.

For questions regarding RCR, email uhrcr@hawaii.edu.

Other RCR Information

Below are links to core topics for education in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) courtesy of the United States Department of Health & Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI).

General Education

Authorship

Peer Review

Mentorship

Collaboration

Data Management

Additional Resources