NSF Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Training

As of July 31, 2023, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and other senior staff who are supported by NEW NSF research projects will be required to complete Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) training. The training that Duke provides to meet this funder requirement will also meet the Duke RCR training requirement.

Researchers will be notified by email if they are required to complete the NSF RECR training. Separate emails will be sent for the 100- level and 200-level training requirements. The training statuses will also display on the “Disclosures & Training” section on the myRESEARCHhome dashboard.

Please allow at least one week from training completion for the credit to post on the myRESEARCHhome dashboard, as these trainings are processed manually. You will receive an automated email from LMS when the trainings are processed. The 100-level NSF RECR training is tracked in LMS as a course titled “RCR CITI-ASIST”. The 200-level NSF RECR training is tracked in LMS as a course titled “Mentor/Mentorship Interactive RCR - 200 ASIST”.

100-level NSF RECR training

All Duke researchers required to take this training requirement must complete the CITI RCR Course appropriate to the position on the NSF proposal supporting research as soon as possible to fulfill the NSF RECR 100 level requirement.

These courses are designed to ensure that all faculty and staff engaged in research have a sound understanding of the principal components of research integrity and that we are all using a common language. Covered topics include mentorship, research reproducibility, research misconduct, data management, conflicts of interest, and unconscious bias. These courses can be accessed online and completed over multiple sessions at the researcher’s convenience.

Description

The Collaborative Institution Training Initiative (CITI) is an outside platform for accessing many institutional trainings. Duke has multiple organizational affiliations with CITI, so be sure to login through "Duke RCR" to access Duke's online RCR options. Courses offered through other Duke affiliations with CITI are not eligible for RECR credit (e.g., "Duke Health", "Duke University Campus IRB").

Multiple courses are available through CITI to complete the 100-level training requirement, each designed for a specific type of researcher. Only one course needs to be completed to receive 100-level NSF RECR training credit, though all necessary modules for that course must be completed. Please note that the courses with "Basic" in the title refer to basic science research, not that these courses are more introductory than the other options.

In order to receive credit, you must achieve 80% or higher on each of the required module quizzes. You will have the opportunity to re-take the quizzes and review the material as many times as necessary to achieve 80% or higher.

Estimated time to complete: 1.5-3 hours

Course options

Duke has multiple organizational affiliations with CITI, so be sure to login through "Duke RCR" to access Duke's online RCR options. Options eligible for RECR credit are:

Faculty Course Options
- Responsible Conduct of Research - Faculty - BASIC
- Humanities and Social Sciences RCR - Faculty

Staff Course Options
- Responsible Conduct of Research - Staff - BASIC
- Humanities and Social Sciences RCR - Staff

Student Course Options
- Biomedical PhD Students
- Engineering PhD Students
- Natural Science PhD Students
- Social Science PhD Students
- Medical Student - Responsible Conduct of Research
- Undergraduate Student Responsible Conduct of Research

Courses offered through other Duke affiliations with CITI are not eligible for RCR credit (e.g., "Duke Health", "Duke University Campus IRB"). Masters students should take the most closely aligned course labeled for PhD students. Please note that the courses with "Basic" in the title refer to basic science research, not that these courses are more introductory than the other options.

Duke University is not the primary author of the CITI modules and is not able to update the content on the CITI website. DOSI has received feedback that the core/required 7 modules for faculty and staff engage overwhelmingly with scientific contexts and presumes that readers are scientists.

However, the identification of ethical problems with research practices, as well as the fashioning of institutional responses, has historically depended on insights from humanistic and social justice disciplines. We encourage you to reach out to us at asist@duke.edu, if you would like to participate in RCR module development in the humanities and social sciences as we further develop the program.

Login instructions

Download this guide for detailed login instructions for accessing Duke RCR CITI courses. These steps are summarized below. If you do not have a Duke CITI account follow all steps below. If you do have a Duke CITI account, after step #1, jump to step #5.

  1. Go to the CITI Program webpage and click REGISTER (click LOGIN if you do have a Duke CITI account).
  2. Type “Duke RCR (SSO)” in the text box below. Courses offered through other Duke affiliations with CITI are not eligible for RECR credit (e.g., "Duke Health", "Duke University Campus IRB").
  3. Check the box underneath the text box “I AGREE to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for accessing CITI Program materials” after review.
  4. Check the second box that popped up when you checked the previous one: “I affirm that I am an affiliate of Duke RCR.”
  5. Click the “Continue to SSO Login/Instructions” blue button. You will be directed to the Duke Shibboleth login page, where you will be asked for your NetID and password.
  6. Click “View Courses” next to “Duke RCR”
  7. Click “Add a Course”
  8. Answer Question 1 to select the right course
  9. Complete the entire course and quizzes
  10. Have you reached a score 80% or higher on all quizzes? If so, Congratulations. Your credit will be processed in up to 15 days.

200-level NSF RECR training

In addition to the 100-level NSF RECR training, NSF key personnel and researchers supported by NSF funds for at least four months in a twelve-month period will be required to complete an interactive RCR training event that includes a mentorship component to fulfill the NSF RECR 200-level requirement. Currently, events lead by ASIST with a mentorship component are the only events eligible for the 200-level NSF RECR training. A list of upcoming eligible events can be found here.

Collaborative 200-level RCR/ RECR courses are designed to engage our community in open, interactive, in-person or virtual discussions about RCR topics. The RCR workshop calendar provides a list of all of the workshops organized by ASIST and other Duke offices on campus that will count for RCR-200 credit. Events organized by ASIST with a mentorship component will list that they fulfill the NSF RECR training requirement in the event description. Please reach out to asist@duke.edu with any questions about event eligibility. We strive to offer a variety of topics at a variety of times to cover the needs of the diverse research happening at Duke.

Currently, events lead by ASIST with a mentorship component are the only events eligible for the 200-level NSF RECR training. If you are interested in another Duke event that covers RECR topics including Mentorship, please email asist@duke.edu to inquire about whether the event can be made eligible. Please note that non-ASIST events must be approved in advance.