Complementary Policy on the Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship

Background

Stony Brook University policy P211 requires members and specific Stony Brook University guests to complete
educational training on the responsible conduct of research and scholarship (RCRS) to equip members with the tools
necessary to conduct ethically sound and compliant research and scholarship.

While this campus policy originates in response to National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation
(NSF) training requirements, it is the opinion of the University that training on responsible conduct of research and scholarship should be more comprehensive. Jointly issued by the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Senior Vice-President for Health Sciences, and the Vice-President for Research, the policy requires each academic unit to developits own Complementary Policy for implementing P211 to allow for the most appropriate requirements for the faculty, staff and students of that academic unit.

All persons receiving external grant support from an agency with a RCRS training requirement must meet agency
policies should they exceed minimum Stony Brook University requirements.

Stony Brook Policy P211: Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship (RCRS) ensures the highest ethical
standards for the conduct of research and scholarly activities on our campus. The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) Complementary Policy will ensure for compliant completion of RCRS training for CEAS faculty, post-doctoral associates, research staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students involved in Research and Scholarship.

 

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Training Requirements

RCRS compliant training comprises on-line training and in-person training. The policy set forth by individual
departments specifies training components and frequency.

• On-line training: Web-based Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training is a one-time
  
  training; satisfactory completion is recorded on personnel records in the Stony Brook PeopleSoft system.
  
  The CITI system has multiple training modules available; each department within CEAS determines
  
  appropriate module(s) for its personnel and students.
•  In-person training: minimum requirements must meet external funding entity requirements, as determined
  
  by each department.

 

Identifying and notifying faculty, staff, and students of IPT

Procedures for identifying and notifying faculty, staff and student of IPT are set forth by and are the responsibility of
the individual departments.

Please note for NIH grant recipients:

• On grants where a trainee is Principal Investigator, the named faculty mentor retains responsibility for the
  
  trainee's compliance with RCR training requirements.
• On grants where a trainee is Principal Investigator, and there is no named faculty mentor (e.g., K05,K12,
  
  K18 KL2 and TU2 programs), the relevant department chair retains responsibility for the trainee's
  
  compliance with this RCRS training requirement

 

Record keeping

• Any activity intended to satisfy the RCR training requirement must be supported by appropriate
  
  documentation (attendance, topics covered, etc.) in a departmental database.
•  Each department within the College is responsible for identifying who will be responsible for departmental
  
  record keeping of accurate, verifiable information regarding individuals' IPT completion data.
• IPT participation will be kept in the office of the Dean and maintained by the Associate Dean for Research
  
  in coordination with a representative of each department within the College.
• Each individual is responsible, as determined by the home department, for entering his or her own
  
  continuing IPT activity in the RCRS database (TBD). This database records the general content of IPT
  
  discussions (the areas of RCRS covered), the time spent on each topic, and the attendees.
• CITI training completion data will be furnished to individual departments twice annually, as determined by
  
  departments.

 

Department Policies

Applied Mathematics & Statistics
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Informatics
Civil Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Technology & Society

See Attachment A for Stony Brook Policy P211: Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship or view here.
See Attachment B for details on accessing the CITI website or view here.