University of Michigan Guidelines for
Teaching Plans for the Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship
Responsible conduct of research and scholarship (RCRS) is defined as the practice of scientific
and scholarly investigation with integrity. It involves the awareness and application of
established professional norms and ethical principles in the performance of all activities related
to scientific research and to scholarship.
The NIH and NSF require instruction in responsible conduct of research as an integral part of
training for all students and postdoctoral fellows who are supported by research or training
grants. Evaluation of this instruction may impact funding decisions.
The Rackham Graduate School and the Office of the Vice President for Research encourage
graduate programs and Principal Investigators to collaborate in providing instruction in RCRS as
a basic component of the professional development of all graduate students and postdoctoral
fellows. The federal agencies expect faculty to participate in RCRS training and, through their
teaching and example, to serve as effective role models for their students and postdoctoral
fellows.
Every school or college will submit a training plan by December 22, 2010. This may be a single
plan or one that incorporates several plans designed to meet the needs of different research or
scholarly fields, and should include the elements described below. Plans should be sent to Pat
McCune, phmccune@umich.edu. Implementation of RCRS instruction is expected to begin no
later than the Fall 2011 term.
Training plans will address the following elements
1. Instructors and facilitation. Faculty members are highly encouraged to contribute to
formal instruction as discussion leaders, speakers, and supervisory course directors.
Postdoctoral fellows who have received RCRS training may be qualified to lead
workshops. Research advisors should incorporate informal teaching of RCRS as a regular
ongoing component of laboratory interaction.
2. Content areas. Core RCRS topics include:
 appropriate citation of sources and avoiding plagiarism
 authorship and publication practices and responsibilities
 acquisition, management, ownership and sharing of data
 research misconduct, including data fabrication and falsification
 personal, professional and financial conflicts of interest
 supervisory and mentoring relationships and responsibilities
 responsibilities of collaborative research
 protection of human beings and welfare of laboratory animals when research
involves human participants and animal subjects
Teaching plans should include content areas appropriate to the disciplinary and research
fields of the students and fellows, which may not require equal attention to all topics.
Teaching plans should be attentive to broad issues of integrity, however, that should be
part of the professional development of all students and fellows. Teaching plans are not
expected to include a full curriculum. Curricular resources for each of these content
areas, however, are listed at the U-M Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship
website: http://www.scholarlyintegrity.umich.edu/
3. Format. Online presentation of material may be a component of RCRS teaching, but
instruction must include substantial face-to-face small-group discussion facilitated by
section leaders and faculty. Existing classes and seminars may be adopted, or may
include specialized workshops, Brown Bag discussions, and visitor presentations.
4. Duration. NIH expects that RCRS training should involve substantive contact between
students, fellows, and faculty, with at least 8 hours of face-to-face small-group
instruction. Online training and regular teaching as a component of laboratory interaction
may be appropriate for short-term training of undergraduates.
5. Frequency. Instruction should take place at least once during each career stage (i.e.,
degree program or postdoctoral appointment) and not less than once every four years.
6. CTools. Instructors should use CTools to distribute and manage instructional materials, to
link to online materials, and to certify completion of RCRS training. Certification may
take the form of a credit for completing a course, or verification that an individual has
completed a non-credit-bearing workshop.
Teaching plans will be submitted to the RCRS Task Force, where they will be reviewed and
approved by faculty from appropriate fields of study.
DRDA is developing additional guidance for NSF PIs who have an immediate need to document
traiing to comply with NSF’s new terms and conditions of awards that went into effect January
4th, 2010.