Responsible Conduct of Research Training and Policies

Dear Colleagues, 

As of 2018, Southern Connecticut State University is a subscriber to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program. CITI offers free educational training to all SCSU faculty, staff and students in the areas of best practices for responsible conduct of research, ethics, conflict of interest and regulatory oversight.  

The Office of the Provost, in conjunction with the Office of Research Integrity and in light of our institution’s continued adherence to the Federal Research Misconduct Policy, highly recommends that all institutional members conducting any type of research establish an account with CITI and complete the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course(s) that are best suited to their discipline.  

It is required that all faculty members with research funding from both external and internal sources will maintain RCR training (including AAUP-CSU Research and Creative Activity Grants). We strongly encourage faculty members to familiarize themselves with CITI and the SCSU ORI Policies and Procedures and to contact the SCSU Office of Research Integrity at ORI@southernct.edu with any questions or concerns.   Information on these policies can be found here:    https://inside.southernct.edu/rpp/educational-resource. Information on the SPAR website (including information on the CITI login procedures) is located here:   https://inside.southernct.edu/spar/citi  

Researchers engaged in activities involving human subjects, vertebrate animals, or bio-hazardous materials are required to complete additional CITI training per requirements established by the IRB, IACUC or IBC Committees, respectively. 

For those conducting human subjects research, the CITI Social and Behavioral Research - Basic course is an additional requirement that is not met via completion of the RCR training referenced in this memo.

The options currently available for RCR training are:  

• Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research  
• Responsible Conduct of Research for Engineers 
• Humanities Responsible Conduct of Research  
• Physical Science Responsible Conduct of Research  
• Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research  

All educational courses in RCR contain modules on authorship, collaboration, conflicts of interest, data management, mentoring, peer review, research misconduct and plagiarism. CITI Certifications are valid for three years. Faculty are also encouraged to use CITI training materials with students in relevant classroom instruction and for mentoring.  

We look forward to our ongoing strengthening of SCSU’s capacity for impactful and innovative research.  

Sincerely,  
Dr. Robert Prezant, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs  
Dr. Christine Caragianis Broadbridge, Executive Director of Research and Innovation  
Dr. Julia Irwin, Research Protection Program Director