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About

The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course is designed to establish a strong foundational understanding of the ethical framework and professional standards essential for high-quality scientific inquiry. It emphasizes the importance of integrity, accountability, and social responsibility in the research process, ensuring that participants can navigate complex ethical dilemmas while maintaining public trust in science.
This course covers critical domains including data acquisition and management, mentor-trainee responsibilities, publication practices and authorship, and the peer review process. It also provides in-depth exploration of research misconduct, conflicts of interest, human and animal subject protections, and collaborative science. Upon completion, learners receive a certification verifying their training in federally mandated RCR standards.

Who Should Enrol?

  • Graduate students and Postdoctoral fellows
  • Principal Investigators and Senior Researchers
  • Clinical Research Coordinators and Support Staff
  • Academic faculty and Research Administrators
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) and IACUC members
  • Laboratory Managers and Technicians
  • Ethics and Compliance Officers
  • Undergraduate students engaged in federally funded research projects

What you will learn

Understand the fundamentals of responsible conduct of research, including the ethical principles, core values, and professional responsibilities that guide ethical decision-making and foster a culture of research integrity.

Gain knowledge of key ethical and regulatory frameworks, including research ethics, data management and sharing, authorship and publication standards, peer review, conflicts of interest, human and animal subject protections, and relevant institutional and legal requirements.

Learn the practical application of RCR principles through real-world scenarios, exploring mentor-trainee relationships, collaborative research, responsible authorship, proper citation practices, and the handling and reporting of research misconduct.

Develop skills to promote a culture of integrity and compliance by understanding accountability, transparency, risk assessment, ethical oversight, and best practices that ensure high-quality research and maintain public trust in science.

Course Syllabus

  1. Why RCR matters now
  2. The core principles of responsible research
  3. Who this course is for
  4. What you'll learn
  5. Roadmap — Modules 1–6
  6. Roadmap — Modules 7–12
  7. Modern topics integrated across the course
  8. How you'll learn
  9. A preview dilemma — what would you do?
  10. Practical tools you take away
  11. Certification & positioning
  12. What this course delivers

  1. What is RCR?
  2. Core principles
  3. Research governance landscape
  4. Frameworks & codes
  5. Research misconduct — the big three
  6. Case Study — The Schön scandal
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why authorship matters
  2. ICMJE four criteria
  3. Authorship types to avoid
  4. Special roles
  5. Publication ethics
  6. Case Study — The gift-authorship request
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why collaboration matters
  2. Upfront agreements
  3. Cross-disciplinary challenges
  4. International collaborations
  5. Collaboration documents
  6. Case Study — The disappearing dataset
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Conflict of interest vs. conflict of commitment
  2. Types of financial COI
  3. Non-financial COI
  4. Disclosure — how
  5. Management options
  6. Case Study — The dual-role dilemma
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why data management matters
  2. FAIR principles
  3. Data management plan (DMP)
  4. Data integrity principles
  5. Data governance
  6. Case Study — The missing raw data
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why research culture matters
  2. Mentor responsibilities
  3. Healthy lab practices
  4. Power dynamics — risks
  5. Speaking up
  6. Case Study — The uncomfortable pattern
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why peer review matters
  2. Reviewer responsibilities
  3. Author responsibilities
  4. Types of peer review
  5. Publication ethics issues
  6. Case Study — The reviewer's conflict
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. What is plagiarism?
  2. Types of plagiarism
  3. Self-plagiarism
  4. AI & plagiarism
  5. Detection & prevention
  6. Case Study — The AI-assisted draft
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. The reproducibility crisis
  2. Questionable Research Practices (QRPs)
  3. Pre-registration
  4. Open methods & data
  5. Robust statistics
  6. Case Study — The famous unreplicable finding
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. The Belmont principles
  2. Informed consent
  3. IRB / IEC / REC review
  4. Vulnerable populations
  5. Special contexts
  6. Case Study — The withheld risk
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Why animal research requires ethics review
  2. The 3Rs
  3. Oversight bodies
  4. Key regulations
  5. Researcher responsibilities
  6. Case Study — The unapproved endpoint
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. What counts as misconduct
  2. Fabrication — examples
  3. Falsification — examples
  4. Detection & reporting
  5. Consequences
  6. Case Study — The image-manipulation retraction
  7. Practical guidance & best practice
  8. Common mistakes to avoid
  9. Decision framework for grey areas
  10. Best-practice checklist
  11. Modern & global context

  1. Ten habits of a researcher who practises RCR daily
  2. After certification — apply what you learned
  3. Course complete

Course Benefits

Benefits cpd_points icon
CPD Points

Gain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points, accredited by The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. These can be used to count towards the distance learning element of any scheme that comes under the umbrella of The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges or any other scheme for which there is mutual recognition.

Benefits certification icon
Certification

Receive a personal certificate to show your subject knowledge on course completion.

Benefits affordable icon
Affordable

You get excellent value through our cost-effective prices. We can also offer you group discounts on larger purchases.

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Flexibility

The course saves you time through the convenience of online availability. This lets you complete the interactive course at your own comfort.

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Keep Up to Date

You will stay up to date with any changes to research-integrity standards and guidance — including the ICMJE authorship criteria, COPE, the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity, the Belmont Report, the 3Rs and ARRIVE guidelines, and FAIR data principles — as our training courses are constantly monitored, reviewed and updated.

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Learn from Industry Experts

The course content has been developed by research-integrity specialists to ensure that learners can apply the principles of responsible conduct of research in their day-to-day work.


Our Certified Customers

novartis
NHS
takeda
roche
dhl

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