Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

MSU is committed to helping graduate and graduate-professional students conduct research, creative activity, and scholarship with the highest ethical standards. To this end, The Graduate School (TGS) requires all graduate and graduate-professional students to complete Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) education. The current education program (est. 2017) is comprised of (i) a basic component (Years One and Two) consisting of on-line training modules and a series of instructor-led, discussion-based workshops and (ii) an annual refresher component (Years Three and beyond, Ph.D. students only). TGS offers a series of workshops each academic year that can be used to fulfill the basic education requirements. These workshops cover topics pertinent to research integrity. They allow for interactive discussion, case studies to be reviewed, and questions to be answered on key topics such as mentoring, authorship, plagiarism, research misconduct and detrimental research practices, data management, etc. These workshops build upon the foundational aspects introduced in the on-line CITI modules. Moreover, these sessions serve to develop a culture of responsible conduct and ethical awareness, as well as fulfilling the in-person discussion hours and content required by federal funding agencies (e.g., NIH, NSF and USDA-NIFA).

Workshop Series Coordinators

Dr. Greg Swain, RECR Education Coordinator, Tel. 517-353-1090, swain@chemistry.msu.edu






Topics for 2024-2025 RECR Workshops

Discussions will be framed around a main presentation given by Dr. Greg Swain, or by other individuals from key units across campus. The purpose for these workshops is to help students better understand the importance of responsible behavior, learn about proper research and creative activity practices, and connect to important regulatory and information offices across the MSU campus. Each topic, as listed below, is paralleled by a CITI lesson such that a student could pair an online module with a discussion session.

All instructor-led workshops will be conducted virtually at the designated time, 6:00-7:30 pm. Zoom webinar link information will be provided to registrants. Each session, unless otherwise noted will be worth 1.5 hours of credit.

All workshop slides and other materials can be found in Ability as “Class Documents” under each workshop/course.

Ethics in Research and Creative Activity, and Effective Mentoring (RCR-1200-ILTVC), September 3, 2024

Case Studies in Mentoring (RCR-1201-ILTVC), September 24, 2024, 6:00 - 7:00 pm (1 h)

Authorship, Plagiarism and Peer Review (RCR-4195-ILTVC), October 15, 2024

Case Studies in Authorship and Plagiarism (RCR-4196-ILTVC), October 29, 2024, 6:00 - 7:00 pm (1 h)

Detrimental Research Practices, Teamwork and Conflict Resolution (RCR-3647-ILTVC), November 12, 2024

Record Keeping, Data Management, and Sharing Information (RCR-3628-ILTVC), December 10, 2024

Research Misconduct and Reporting (RCR-3390-ILTVC), January 14, 2025

Research Collaborations and Student Conflicts of Interest (RCR-3649-ILTVC), January 28, 2025

Animal Subjects and Animal Use Protocols (RCR-3392-ILTVC), February 11, 2025

Human Subjects and Human Use Protocols (RCR-3391-ILTVC), March 11, 2025

Rigor and Reproducibility in Research (RCR-3393-ILTVC), April 8, 2025

Non-Disclosure Agreements, Intellectual Property and Export Controls (RCR-3648-ILTVC), April 29, 2025

 

Possible Options for Annual Refresher RECR Education

Michigan State University together with the Big Ten Academic Alliance is sponsoring a virtual conference entitled Promises and Pitfalls of AI for Research and Scholarship Integrity. The virtual conference will be held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, from 10:00-5:00 pm ET. The conference will provide a forum for discussing generative AI and its impacts on research and scholarship, why protecting technology in the age of AI is important, and what the impacts are of AI on peer review and publishing. 

More information and a registration link can be found at the Conference Website

Graduate students participating in this conference can receive 1 h of credit (discussion-based education) for the basic component of the RECR education program or up to 3 h of credit for the annual refresher education required for doctoral students. Contact Dr. Greg Swain (swaing@msu.edu)  if interested in participating in the conference for RECR credit.

 

The Center for Statistical Training and Consultation (CSTAT) at MSU offers seminars and workshops regularly (at least once each semester) that can fulfill Annual Refresher RECR Education requirements. Details on the workshops and other events can be found at https://cstat.msu.edu/events.

Participation in the VERITIES Initiative workshops. VERITIES is an NSF-supported institutional transformation initiative here at MSU that aims to foster a culture of excellence and integrity in university and professional settings by infusing traditional Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) education with an appreciation and understanding of the scientific virtues. Details can be found at https://veritiesinitiative.msu.edu/.

RCR

RCR