Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR)

Motivation and Program Goals

RECR education is an essential component of a comprehensive training program for scholars in all disciplines. Responsible and ethical conduct promotes public confidence in scientific knowledge and progress for the public good. Key topics including authorship, plagiarism, effective mentoring, scholarship misconduct and detrimental research practices, teamwork and collaboration, data and information management, conflicts of interest, research security, etc. are important for scholars in all fields of study to be knowledgeable about. At present, MSU requires RECR education for all graduate and graduate-professional students, as well as a subset of undergraduate students engaged in research. A new policy is being developed that will require all new faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and technical research staff to complete RECR education. The plan is to roll out the first phase of the program starting Spring Semester 2024. Details will be forthcoming to the campus community using this website.

The program is anticipated to consist of (i) online education modules (CITI Program (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative)) and (ii) instructor-led, discussion-based workshops on key mandated topics. These topics will likely include (i) research misconduct and detrimental research practices (including procedures for reporting and investigating allegations of misconduct), (ii) mentoring, safe research environments and collaborative research, (iii) authorship and plagiarism, (iv) data, data management, and record keeping) and (v) conflicts of interest and research security.  An understanding of how to conduct research and pursue scholarly activity responsibly and ethically is an important outcome of stakeholder education and training. The goal of the MSU RECR education program is to inform all constituencies about best practices in research and scholarship with a foundation in ethical decision making and effective mentoring.

At present, several funding agencies require RECR education for individuals financially support by their grants (NSF, NIH, and USDA-NIFA) and that this education be properly documented. There are differences in the required modes of delivery, topical content and frequency of the education or training, depending on the agency. The topics discussed in an education program should include research misconduct, research ethics, mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships, conflicts of interest (personal, professional, financial), authorship and plagiarism, data management and record keeping, collaborative research, safe research environments, human subjects and animal use, laboratory safety, and peer review and confidentiality. 

Another reason for the required RECR education program for all is federal law as written in the America Competes Act of 2007 and the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.  The following are the current minimum requirements for the three agencies: 

National Science Foundation (NSF)

• All undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdocs supported on grants must be provided with training. 
• The Chips Act (2022) changes this to include faculty and other senior personnel. 
• The institution is responsible for content, method of delivery, and frequency of training. 
• New subject matter includes: 1) mentor training and mentorship; 2) training to raise awareness of potential security threats; 3) federal export control, disclosure, and reporting. These changes are effective for proposals submitted on or after July 31, 2023. The research security topics will be specified at a later date. 

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Trainees (predoc and postdoc) on an NIH institutional research training grant, individual fellowship, career development award (institutional or individual), research education grant, dissertation research grant, or other grant programs should have a minimum of eight contact hours of formal instruction. The education cannot be provided entirely through online training modules (e.g., CITI Program - Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative). 
• Topics should include research misconduct, research ethics, mentor/mentee responsibilities and relationships, conflicts of interest (personal, professional, financial), authorship and plagiarism, data management and record keeping, collaborative research, safe research environments, human subjects and animal use, laboratory safety, and peer review and confidentiality. Eleven topics are now required. 
• Individuals should receive the training once at each career stage and at a frequency of no less than once every four years. 
• Discussion-based instruction in the responsible conduct of research is expected to remain a key feature of RECR education with substantive face-to-face interaction among participants and faculty. Recognizing that advances in video conferencing now allow for effective “face-to-face” discussions to occur electronically, institutions may incorporate instructor-led video conferencing options. 
• New subject matter (effective for proposals submitted after Fall 2022) includes: 1) conflicts of interest – personal, professional, and financial – and conflict of commitment, in allocating time, effort, or other research resources; 2) safe research environments (e.g., those that promote inclusion and are free of sexual, racial, ethnic, disability and other forms of discriminatory harassment); 3) collaborative research, including collaborations with industry and investigators and institutions in other countries; 4) peer review, including the responsibility for maintaining confidentiality and security in peer review; 5) data acquisition and analysis, laboratory tools (e.g., tools for analyzing data and creating or working with digital images), recordkeeping practices, including methods such as electronic laboratory notebooks; and 6) secure and ethical data use, data confidentiality, management, sharing, and ownership. 

USDA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA))

• Training is required for all program directors, faculty, postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students. 
• The institution is responsible for content, method of delivery, and frequency of training. 
• Emphasis should be given to three key areas of research ethics: authorship and plagiarism, data and research integration, and reporting misconduct.

Key Documents

• National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) - Provisions Regarding DPIs, Consequences, Information Sharing and Research Security Programs
• Implementation Guidance for NSPM-33
• An Update on Research Security: Streamlining Disclosure Standards (August 2022)
• NSF RECR Education Requirements
• NSF PAPPG (NSF 23-1) - Recipient Standards for Compliance and RECR Education
• NIH RECR Education Requirements
• USDA-NIFA Education Requirements