Research Integrity Requirements

Integrity is foundational to our research, scholarship, creative work, and core identity as MSU Spartans. It is not only required by rules (including federal, state, research sponsors, and MSU’s research and training policies), integrity is essential for our research to have legitimacy and impact. Research integrity is so important to our development as scholars and creators that the Graduate School has developed minimum education requirements for all graduate students regarding the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR for short). RECR training is also a federal requirement for all graduate students and completion of the training must be tracked. The Graduate School will assign service indicators (holds) on students’ records if they have not completed their annual RECR requirements.

Graduate Certificate only students do not need to complete RECR training.

The Graduate School’s RECR education program consists of two parts (a) basic or foundational education (years one and two), and (b) annual refresher education (years three and beyond). Details are provided below.

Graduate students should work closely with their department regarding RECR education requirements before seeking assistance from the Graduate School.

The basic education program consists of the following:

1. Four (4) online CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) training modules. (To be completed by the end of the student’s first year).
2. A minimum of 6 hours of face-to-face, discussion-based workshops. (Due by the time of graduation for Master’s students and before completing the comprehensive examination and entering candidate status for doctoral students). Each department or college has developed a RECR plan including when and how to satisfy the discussion-based training hours. Please review this plan (found in your graduate handbook) and verify with your Graduate Program Director. Options may include:
   1. Completing workshops offered by the Graduate School (each counts for 1.5 hours),
   2. Completing workshops offered by your academic unit,
   3. Completing approved coursework containing relevant content, and/or
   4. Participating in group discussions with an advisor.
3. Three (3) additional on-line CITI modules for Master’s Plan A and Doctoral students. These 3 additional CITI modules can be chosen from the supplemental modules listed in CITI. This list will not be visible on a student’s CITI page until the first four required modules have been completed. (To be completed  by the end of the student's second year. These must be completed in Year Two, not before,  in order to count toward the basic education requirements).

In addition to the basic education requirements, all doctoral and graduate professional students must complete 3 hours per year of annual refresher education. This requirement can be met in the following ways:

1. Completing additional CITI modules not previously used to fulfill the basic education requirements. These would be from the supplemental modules listed in CITI. Each module counts as 45 min,
2. Completing additional face-to-face workshops from the Graduate School not previously used to fulfill the basic education requirements,
3. Participating in designated RECR activities in an academic unit,
4. Holding one-on-one or group discussions with one’s advisor, and/or
5. Other activities across campus that cover key RECR topics (e.g., mentoring workshops)

Reach out to gradsis@grd.msu.edu to check if courses or events you would like to participate in count towards your RECR education requirements.

The Graduate School has compiled many resources for discussion-based completion of the RECR requirements. Each department or college has developed a detailed RECR plan including when and how to satisfy the discussion-based training hours. Please review this plan (found in your graduate handbook) and verify with your Graduate Program Director.

The current basic RECR education program took effect January 1, 2017. All graduate and graduate professional students enrolling for the first time in spring 2017, or after, will follow the current RECR education program with the following clarification: The requirement that doctoral students must complete their 6 hours of discussion-based training before the comprehensive examination applies to doctoral students starting in Fall 2020 or later. Doctoral students who started between Spring 2017 and Summer 2020 must complete their 6 hours of discussion-based training before graduation. Departments and programs may have more specific requirements to meet the discussion-based and annual refresher education requirements. Students who entered in fall 2016, or before, have the option of following the academic unit’s previous plan or the new requirements. Students should consult with their departments about which option works best with their program of study.

Documenting Completion of Requirements

The university’s training tracking system, Ability, will automatically record completion of all CITI modules and Graduate School workshops. Students should work with their graduate program to document unit-led RECR education. Students must document discussion hours with their advisor by submitting them in the Campus Solutions system. See instructions for all of the above on the MSU Office of Research Regulatory Support’s RECR website.

CITI Instructions

To complete the basic and supplemental CITI modules, follow these steps:

1. Log-in to CITI using ONLY your MSU NetID and password once you are an active gradute student.
   
   1. Click on the “CITI (actual training modules)” button below, or
   2. Go directly to the CITI Program website and click “log-in through my institution.”
2. (For first-time MSU CITI users) Follow the 'Get Started' instructions from MSU’s Office of Research Regulatory Support (ORRS).
3. Under “Courses Ready to Begin”, click “Start” next to “MSU Graduate School RCR Requirements.”
4. Complete the 4 basic modules by the end of your first year.
5. For Master’s plan A and doctoral students, complete 3 modules from the “Supplemental Modules” also listed on this page. (Master’s: due before graduation; Doctoral: due before completing comprehensive exams and advancing to candidacy).

NEW RECR Job Aid PDF: Job Aid for Staff | Job Aid for Students

RCR memo - 8/29/16 (PDF)

MSU Responsible Conduct of Research Plans template 2016 (PDF)

MSU Office of Research Regulatory Support Responsible Conduct of Research page describing MSU’s RECR training requirements for all investigators, links to funding agency RECR requirements, and links for documenting instructor-led and discussion-based training for submission to Ability

MSU Policy on NSF Funded Research 2009 (PDF)

THE LAB video

The long awaited release of "The Lab: Avoiding Research Misconduct" is now available for viewing on the ORI web site. The video simulation allows users to assume the role of a graduate student, post-doc, research administrator, or PI and make decisions that affect the integrity of research.