Responsible Conduct of Research

Op4.01-4 Responsible Conduct of Research

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Policy statement

To promote research integrity, ethical conduct in research, and to comply with federal requirements, Missouri State University encourages all students, staff, and faculty researchers to be trained in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). Missouri State requires principal investigators (PI), key personnel, graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, associates, trainees, and any other University affiliates conducting research activities supported by specific federal research funds or committee oversight by the Institutional Review Board, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, or the Institutional Biosafety Committee to be RCR trained within 90 (ninety) days of the start of support by the federal awarding agency. Individuals involved in all other research activities must be trained prior to the participation of the research activity. This requirement can be fulfilled by completing University-approved training. Those designated as Mentors to the covered individuals will also be required to complete the training within the same time period. The training will cover the following ten instructional areas as designated by the Office of Research Integrity, Department of Health and Human Services:

1. Research Misconduct;
2. Plagiarism;
3. Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership;
4. Publication Practices and Responsible Authorship;
5. Peer Review;
6. Mentoring and Healthy Research Environments;
7. Animal Welfare;
8. Conflicts of Interest and Commitment;
9. Collaborative Research;
10. Human

A specific, procedural RCR training plan will be developed and maintained by the Office of Research Administration. Training completion will be monitored and documentation of participation will be kept by the Office of Research Administration and produced upon request from the sponsor.

Certification of plan

Missouri State University is required to certify in all research proposals to the National Science Foundation (NSF) the existence of a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research to PIs, key personnel, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and all other supported personnel participating in the proposed research project.

For specific proposals sent to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Missouri State University is required to certify the existence of a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible and ethical conduct of research by all individuals supported by specific NIH awards requiring responsible conduct of research training and may include face-to-face interaction among participants and faculty.

Consequences for failure to complete training

Covered individuals who fail to complete the required RCR training will be prohibited from further activities on the research project and will have research support revoked. Any federal funds expended for support of such individuals will be removed from grant funds and will be charged to an appropriate department fund. Investigators who do not comply with this policy may be disciplined according to University Policy.