Responsible Conduct of Research

Graduate College students are required to pass courses in Responsible Conduct of Research as part of the degree requirements of all OUHSC PhD and MS programs.

RCR Training Requirements

Doctoral Student Requirements

All entering doctoral students must successfully complete a Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course approved by the Graduate College Responsible Conduct of Research Committee. Doctoral students should enroll in one of the approved courses in their first year. Students cannot enroll in Doctoral Dissertation Research if they have not passed the basic RCR course. At a minimum, all courses must meet the NIH requirements and the 2022 update for RCR training

The approved courses for first year doctoral students are:

Further training in RCR is required after four years, so students in their 5th year are required to enroll in the Advanced RCR course:

BMSC 6011: Integrity in Scientific Research II
Graduate students who have already confirmed their defense date in the fall semester with the Graduate College, may be exempt from enrolling in the RCR II course (BMSC 6011). Those who might potentially graduate in the fall, but have not confirmed their defense date yet, will be required to enroll in the course. After submitting their defense request to the Graduate College, students may choose whether they wish to drop the course or remain enrolled. If the course is dropped after the second week of the semester, the course will remain on the transcript with a grade of “W”, according to the Add/Drop deadlines in the OUHSC Academic Calendar. Students must complete all the required class sessions to receive a grade of “S” in the course.

Thesis Master's Student Requirements

All thesis masters students must successfully complete a training program approved by the Graduate College Responsible Conduct of Research Committee. Thesis masters students must fulfill this requirement prior to enrolling in Master's Thesis Research. Departments may choose one of the following options:

Option 1:

Students successfully complete the online CITI Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research, Basic Course
Students successfully complete discussion cases on RCR as part of a seminar series or incorporated into another course. Students must present to the department a certificate documenting completion of the CITI course and program must verify participation in case presentations.

Option 2:
Programs may have students enroll in one of the approved courses.

Non-thesis Master's Student Requirements

All Non-thesis students must successfully complete the online CITI Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research, Basic Course.

Postdoctoral Fellow Requirements

The policy of the Graduate College Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is that all postdoctoral fellows take the Refresher RCR Training Module. A certificate of completion will be issued to postdoctoral fellows who complete the training module, including participation in the discussion sessions.

How to Access the CITI RCR Courses

Completion of the CITI "Responsible Conduct of Research" course is required of everyone at OUHSC who is engaged in research.

You may in addition need to take the Institutional Review Board requirement "Human Subjects Research" on the CITI site, or the IACUC training in animal use and care. Those are additional courses.

For New Users:

Go to www.CITIProgram.org
Click on the REGISTER box
Select your organization: “University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center”
- NOTE: If you are a postdoc at OMRF, select that institution.
Complete the requested registration information.
Scroll down to "Learner tools for University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and click "Add a course"
Select the course "Responsible Conduct of Research"

For Previously Registered Users of CITI

If you already have a CITI username and password, login into www.CITIProgram.org
Insert your username and password.
- Select “University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center” (or "Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation" if that's where you first registered) to access the RCR course
- Complete the requested registration information.
- Scroll down to "Learner tools for University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and click "Add a course"
- Select "Responsible Conduct of Research" course.

If you have technical difficulties, the CITI web site has a Support page, or you can contact CITI by phone (305) 243-7970