RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH

The George Washington University encourages all of its graduate students to become familiar with professional and ethical standards in academia in general as well as in their chosen fields. In fulfilling its responsibility to prepare the next generation of responsible researchers, GW offers the following assistance:

Responsible Conduct of Research Training

All students in research-oriented graduate programs, especially students who will be writing theses and/or dissertations and authoring and co-authoring papers in their fields, are urged to complete CITI’s Responsible Conduct of Research Training . Discussion of the important issues raised by this training among faculty and students should be an important element of professional development in all of our graduate programs. Students in some programs and circumstances are required to participate in this Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training. 

Completion of RCR Training is mandatory as of October 1, 2009 for all undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers supported by National Science Foundation grants.  If this applies to you, you must complete the RCR program as soon as you begin work supported by an NSF grant and provide the printout documenting your completion of all modules listed below to your Principal Investigator. Your PI must in turn submit the printout to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Rice Hall 601, 2121 I St., N.W., Washington, DC 20052. 

RCR training takes about 4 hours to complete. Select the appropriate version of the program: Biomedical, social and behavioral, physical science and engineering, or humanities. You must achieve 80% correct on the quizzes to pass but you can retake quizzes as needed until you pass.  The important thing is to learn and think about the issues. 

Topics covered include:

• Research Misconduct
• Data Acquisition and Management
• Responsible Authorship and Publication
• Peer Review
• Mentoring
• Conflicts of Interest and Commitment
• Collaborative Relationships

More information about the U.S. government’s efforts to encourage ethical conduct by researchers can be found at the website of theOffice of Research Integrity

GW’s policy on research misconduct spells out our responsibilities for avoiding and reporting instances of research misconduct.

Note too our responsibilities in conducting research for human subject protection, animal protection, and protection of health and laboratory safety when working with hazardous materials.

Writing Resources

GW offers a variety of resources to assist students in being responsible writers:

GW’s Code of Academic Integrity represents our community’s commitment to academic honesty. The Office of Academic Integrity is always available to consult on issues of academic integrity.

RefWorks is an online tool supported by Gelman Library that helps writers organize their research and create bibliographies--and avoid inadvertent plagiarism in the process.

The WID Studio offers a range of resources and references on writing, including guidance on avoiding plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty.

GW will soon make available through Blackboard, a tutorial designed to help students avoid plagiarism as they quote, paraphrase, summarize, and otherwise make use of others’ ideas and material.