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The Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research

The Public Health Service and National Science Foundation (NSF) require recipients of grants to develop policies on scientific misconduct and adopt procedures to both uncover acts of research fraud and examine allegations of misconduct in the conduct of research.

������Ƶ follows the below policies regarding the responsible conduct of research in all fields throughout the University.

������Ƶ's policy for The Responsible Conduct of Research 

Data Handling Expectations at ������Ƶ

Allegations of Research Misconduct are to be directed to the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) who will consult confidentially with persons uncertain about whether to submit an Allegation of Research Misconduct. The RIO is responsible for: (1) assessing Allegations of Research Misconduct to determine if they fall within the definition of Research Misconduct, are covered by federal regulations, and warrant an Inquiry on the basis that the Allegation is sufficiently credible and specific so that potential evidence of Research Misconduct may be identified; and (2) overseeing Inquiries and Investigations; and (3) the other responsibilities described in this policy. Research Misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism or other practices in the conduct of research, scholarly, or creative activity that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the academic community for proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Misconduct in research does not include honest error or differences of opinion.

The RIO at ������Ƶ is the Assistant Vice President for Research Compliance and can be reached at (607) 777-3532or at nlewis@binghamton.edu.

 

Responsible Conduct of Research Training 

Federal agencies including the NIH, NSF, and USDA require institutions to have a plan to provide appropriate training and oversight in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) for the undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and other senior personnel that they support.  Below is the ������Ƶ RCR Policy that outlines the various training requirements based on the agency and individual’s role under an award.

������Ƶ Responsible Conduct of Research Training Policy

 

Online Training

At ������Ƶ all undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers supported in any part by an award from the NSF or the NIH or USDA's NIFA are required to complete an online training program.

������Ƶ utilizes the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) to complete online training. 

Note: All Principal Investigators (PIs) and senior key personnel on federal awards are required to complete conflict of interest (COI) training (effective March 1, 2024).  Additionally, the  requires that all PIs and key senior personnel that are awarded NSF funding after August 1st, 2022 receive mentoring training and training to raise awareness of research security risks as well as Federal export control, disclosure and reporting requirements.  To comply with this requirement, PIs and senior key personnel will complete both the RCR and Export Control Training courses in CITI. 

Procedures for Online CITI Training

Click and log in via the blue LOG IN button and then click "LOG IN THROUGH MY INSTITUTION" and chose SUNY-University at Binghamton. 
To add a new course:
After you log in You will see the Main Menu:

• Click Add a Course:
• Select the CITI course(s) that you are required to complete based on the RCR Policy and any other courses that you may find of interest.
• Click Complete Update.

You can take a course from any computer and you do not have to complete a course in one sitting.

If you do not have a CITI account and have a ������Ƶ email, please do the following: Click and log in via the blue LOG IN button and then click REGISTER and chose SUNY-University at Binghamton for your organization (select the one with SSO). Click both boxes that you agree and then choose (Continue to Create Your SSO Username/Password). You should then be prompted to create your account using your Binghamton email and PODS account info

If you do not have a CITI account and do not have a ������Ƶ email, please do the following: Click and log in via the blue LOG IN button and then click REGISTER and chose SUNY-University at Binghamton for your organization ( Do not select the one with SSO). Click both boxes that you agree and then choose (Continue to Create Your CITI Program Username/Password). You should then be prompted to create your account using your own email.

Face-to-Face Seminars and Workshops

 requires that all trainees, fellows, participants and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award, research education grant and dissertation research grant must receive instruction in responsible conduct of research.

The Office of Research Compliance within the Division of Research at ������Ƶ will conduct face-to-face workshops thought the academic year covering subjects including but not limited to: acquisition, management, sharing and ownership of data; animal welfare; authorship/plagiarism; collaboration; conflict of interest; human subject protections; mentoring; peer review; and ethics in research.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

The Binghamton Biofilm Research Center will offer its last workshop for Fall 2024 in November. It is a 3-day hands-on “Working with Microorganisms” workshop that is scheduled to take place on Monday (November 18th), Wednesday (November 20th), and Friday (November 22nd) 2024. The workshop will include both online instruction and in-person, hands-on skill practice. Each day of the workshop will include a pre-recorded pre-lab lecture video and in-person sessions from 4-6 p.m. in the Center of Excellence (COE) room B401. All participants must watch the pre-lab lecture videos and attend the in-person sessions for ALL THREE DAYS.

 The purpose of each workshop is to train ������Ƶ students, staff and faculty in basic microbiology techniques. Attendees who successfully complete the training and attend all three online and in-person sessions will be certified by the ������Ƶ Institutional Biosafety Committee to work in BSL-1 and BSL-2 labs.

The workshop will focus on medium preparation and autoclaving, aseptic technique in the handling of microorganisms, determining the overall number and purity of bacteria in a sample, stock culture preparation, and gram staining. No prior microbiology knowledge is required for this workshop. During the hands-on portion of the workshop, you may choose whether to wear a face mask. PPE including lab coats, masks, and gloves will be supplied to all participants and shared equipment will be sanitized before and after each use. Seats are limited for each workshop.

 To register for the workshop please complete this . Registration for the workshop closes Friday, November 15th 2024.

If you have any questions regarding the workshop, contact Emma Glynn (eglynn1@binghamton.edu).

Previous Workshops

Responsible Conduct of Research Workshops Fall 2016-Present

/research/division-offices/research-compliance/rcrworkshopsupdated_11_22_2024.pdf

EH&S Trainings  

The Lab Safety Division of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) offers online Lab Safety Training as well as additional trainings based on the type of research being performed.   

New instructions on how to access the online training using the in-house BComply system are available both on the Resuming Research and Training Web Pages.
/ehs/resuming_research.html
/ehs/training/index.html

If you have any questions, you can contact EHS Training Coordinator Stephen Endres at sendres@binghamton.edu or please call 607-777-2211. 

Working with Animals

If the research included using animal models,  information on the required trainings can be found at /research/division-offices/research-compliance/lar/index.html

 

Documentation of Training

The Office of Research Compliance monitors completion of the CITI modules and will contact you if not completed promptly.  Documentation of both online and face to face trainings are maintained by the Office of Research Compliance.  You may also print a record of completion certificate from CITI.  A copy of this certificate should be maintained by the student or postdoctoral researcher should there be any question concerning the completion of required training.

Questions?

If you have questions please contact Stephen Kamper, Research Compliance Coordinator by phone at 607-777-3822  or by email at skamper@binghamton.edu.  You can also contact  Nancy Lewis, Assistant Vice President of Research Compliance by phone at 607-777-3532 or by email at nlewis@binghamton.edu