Research Integrity

Basic Education

The basic education program consists of the following:

1. Four (4) specified online CITI(Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) training modules.
   1. To be completed by the end of the student’s first year.
2. A minimum of 6 hours of face-to-face, discussion-based education.
   1. To be completed by the time of graduation for master’s students and prior to completing the comprehensive examination and entering candidate status for doctoral students. Options may include:
      1. Completing workshops offered by The Graduate School (most count for 1.5 hours each)
      2. Completing workshops offered by your academic unit
      3. Completing approved coursework covering RECR relevant content (see topical content list)
      4. Participating in group discussions with an advisor or facilitator
         1. In such cases, the individual leading the discussion must complete and submit a spreadsheet for inclusion into Ability (and transfer to the Track RECR page in SIS).
      5. For students entering graduate school in FS2022 or later, one-on-one discussions with a faculty mentor or advisor can NO LONGER be used to fulfill the 6 hours of discussion-based education.
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.

• CITI courses taken prior to the student’s first academic year in their graduate program will not be counted toward the MSU Graduate School’s required basic and annual refresher RECR education programs, with the following exception

• Year 1 and Year 2 CITI modules completed within 2 years of the start of the new degree program at MSU, do not need to be retaken for the new degree for the following two specific cases*:

  • (i) MSU master’s students transferring to a doctoral program or

  • (ii) graduate students at another university who transfer to MSU to complete their degree

• Discussion-based, instructor-led RECR education courses, workshops, etc. completed at another institution may not be counted toward the MSU Graduate School’s required basic and annual refresher RECR education programs.

   

  *The unit/college level RECR administrators can assist with tracking exception notations and marking courses complete for the above two specific cases.

Annual Refresher

In addition to the basic education requirements, all doctoral 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 virtual 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
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.

Research Security Training

Research Security training can also be used to fulfill the Annual Refresher education requirements. The training is presently not a requirement for all graduate students. The training counts for 2.0 h (effective 01/28/2026). 

The training modules focus on mitigating risks from foreign government interference, enhancing cybersecurity, and securing international travel/collaborations. 

MSU’s Research Security Training is delivered through the Ability Learning Management System (LMS) and consists of two required courses. Documentation will be recorded in students’ RECR pages in SIS.

• Research Security Resources at MSU (Required, RSP-1004-SCO, 0.5 h credit effective 1/28/2026)
  • Introduces the core resources and policies available at MSU to support research security.
  •  
• NSF Consolidated Research Security (Required, RSP-1005-SCO, 1.5 h credit):
  • This on-demand course from U.S. National Science Foundation covers
    1. key concepts of research security
    2. federal funding agency disclosure requirements
    3. best practices for managing and mitigating risk associated with international collaborative research and professional activities
    4. balancing principled international collaboration with research security concerns.

Students can enroll in the training by following these steps: 

1. Log into Ability LMS.
2. Select My Requirements.
3. Click on the green plus sign to add a track.
4. Choose Research Security from the Learning Track Options dropdown menu and click Next.
5. The Research Security track will now be listed under your "My Requirements."