Responsible Conduct of Research | Research Policy and Compliance

Education in the Responsible Conduct of Research

RCR is defined as “the practice of scientific investigation with integrity.” It involves the awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related to scientific research. Projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) have specific requirements regarding training in RCR.

Please note that the completion of RCR training is separate from human subjects training required for Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions.

RCR Online Training Option

The following is a snapshot of the primary funding agencies that have requirements for RCR Training:

Federal Agency	Minimum Requirement for RCR	Who Must Complete the Training	Frequency
NIH	At least 8 hours of face-to-face training/interaction (online training may be a component of the overall training)	Trainees, Fellows, Postdoctoral Scholars, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students	At least once during each career stage and no less than once every 4 years
NSF	Online or face-to-face training	Postdoctoral Scholars, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students	Each institution is responsible for the frequency with which RCR training must occur
USDA, NIFA	Online or face-to-face training	Program Directors, Faculty, Postdoctoral Scholars, Undergraduate Students, any staff participating in the project	NIFA requires RCR training be completed before participation or payment from the project

UCLA developed an online foundational course across all disciplines to fulfill the NSF requirement for RCR training. Developed by a faculty committee to be applicable across disciplines, UCLA’s RCR foundational course is delivered in an on-line format. PI’s are encouraged to supplement this core course through discussion, reading, and other mentoring activities. This online training also fulfills the NIFA RCR requirement.

Memo on UCLA’s Plan to Implement the NSF Requirement for Responsible Conduct of Research Training Requirement (May 2023)

Various UCLA schools and departments offers face-to-face training to fulfill the NIH requirement for RCR training. The David Geffen School of Medicine offers two face-to-face courses on RCR annually: “Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans” is a ten-week course that combines lectures and scenario-based interactive discussions (fall); and “Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research” is a ten-week course based on case-study discussions (spring). Other courses are offered through Chemistry and other schools.

Options	Accessibility	Federal Agency Requirements
CITI RCR Education Course	Everyone with UCLA single sign-on	NSF & NIFA
DGSOM RCR courses¹	Everyone	NIH
Customized Department Courses²	Every Department	Can be customized to meet all requirements

¹ The David Geffen School of Medicine offers two face-to-face courses on RCR annually: “Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans” is a ten-week course that combines lectures and scenario-based interactive discussions (fall); and “Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research” is a ten-week course based on case-study discussions (spring). A 4-week RCR refresher course is also offered via Zoom, and is recommended for faculty K awardees.

² Departments are encouraged to develop their own RCR training plans that meet the format and content requirements of federal agencies. RPC can assist in setting goals, selecting topics to be covered, identifying useful approaches for teaching and learning, and assessing outcomes. Some departments already offer face-to-face RCR courses.

Anyone who is required to take the UCLA NSF CITI course must first create an account within the CITI website or affiliate themselves with UCLA if they already have an existing CITI account. All new CITI accounts must be created using your UCLA single sign-on ID. If you do not have a UCLA single sign-on ID, you may create one here: https://accounts.iam.ucla.edu/register

Please view the applicable guidance document below for details about how to link your existing CITI account or how to create a new linked account:

Please view the guidance document below for details about how to find and select the UCLA NSF RCR course on CITI's website:

How to Find and Select the UCLA NSF RCR Course on CITI's website

Responsible Conduct of Research

National Science Foundation (NSF)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

NIFA Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

Additional Resources

For questions, contact RPC@research.ucla.edu

Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct

UCLA Policy 993, “Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct,” and Procedure 993.1, “ Procedure for Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct,” implement the requirements of the U.S. Public Health Service policies and those of other federal agencies. Policy 993 and Procedure 993.1 apply to all research conducted under UCLA’s auspices, whether or not the research was sponsored by a federal agency.

Effective January 1, 2026, Roger Wakimoto, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities (VCR), serves as the Institutional Deciding Official (IDO). Professor Amy Rowat, Special Advisor to the VCR, serves as the campus Research Integrity Officer (RIO). Allegations of Research Misconduct can be submitted to RM@research.ucla.edu or anonymously via the Whistleblower Hotline.

University policy defines research misconduct as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.

Fabrication: making up data or results and recording or reporting them.
Falsification: manipulating research materials, equipment or processes, or changing or omitting data or results, such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
Plagiarism: the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. Note: plagiarism does not include self-plagiarism or authorship or credit disputes, including disputes among former collaborators who participated jointly in the development of a Research project. It also does not include the limited use of identical or nearly identical phrases that describe commonly used methodologies.

Research misconduct DOES NOT include:

Honest error
Differences of opinion
Authorship or attribution of credit
Disputes about intellectual property (IP)
Misuse of University funds, facilities and resources