Implementation of a responsible conduct of research education program at Duke University School of Medicine

ABSTRACT

Academic medical centers rarely require all of their research faculty and staff to participate in educational programs on the responsible conduct of research (RCR). There is also little published evidence of RCR programs addressing high-profile, internal cases of misconduct as a way of promoting deliberation and learning. In the wake of major research misconduct, Duke University School of Medicine (DUSoM) expanded its RCR education activities to include all DUSoM faculty and staff engaged in research. The program included formal deliberation of the Translational Omics misconduct case, which occurred at Duke. Over 5,000 DUSoM faculty and staff participated in the first phase of this new program, with a 100% completion rate. The article reports on the program’s development, challenges and successes, and future directions. This experience at Duke University illustrates that, although challenging and resource intensive, engagement with RCR activities can be integrated into programs for all research faculty and staff. Formal, participatory deliberation of recent cases of internal misconduct can add a novel dimension of reflection and openness to RCR educational activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Responsible conduct of research
• research integrity
• RCR education
• ethics education

Acknowledgments

We recognize the contributions of many persons who helped shape, lead, develop, and implement the Duke Faculty and Staff RCR Education Program. We thank Dean Mary Klotman, Dr. Raphael Valdivia, Dr. Colin Duckett, and Dr. Ross McKinney for their leadership and participation in the in-person RCR workshops; Joe Rusnak and the DOSI-ASIST Task Force; the Duke Learning Management System team, specifically Heather Mabry and Brian Aucoin for assistance with tracking education completions; Leroy Lee for assistance with Duke personnel databases; Molly Starback, Dr. Christopher Nicchitta, and Dr. Hugh Crumley, for their advice and support on the emerging RCR education program; the Duke Office of Research Informatics, specifically April Feickert, Lori Evans, Chet Corey, and Paula Morrison for developing the RCR Education Tracker; and the DUSoM unit-level RCR liaisons and leaders for their continued efforts to promote RCR outreach within their departments, centers, and institutes and more broadly across Duke University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.