A Brief History of RCR Education

Abstract

Responsible conduct of research (RCR) education is now common throughout the United States, primarily in response to federal requirements beginning with the National Institutes of Health in 1989. Despite this long history, RCR education programs remain highly disparate, often with ill-defined content, format, and goals, and minimal evidence for effectiveness. However because it is widely believed that such programs can have value, it is hoped that a review of what is available, and how that came to pass, will highlight what has been done well and where gaps still remain.

Keywords:

• education
• history
• RCR
• research ethics
• responsible conduct of research

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This manuscript is based on a talk prepared by the author for presentation at the “ORI at 20: Reassessing Research Integrity” Leadership Conference sponsored by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland on April 4, 2013. Because of illness, the author was unable to attend and thanks Ken Pimple of Indiana University for presenting in his place. In addition, Philip Langlais (Old Dominion University) and Daniel Vasgird (West Virginia University) are thanked for their thoughtful review of this manuscript and many helpful suggestions, and Ken Pimple and Nicholas Steneck (University of Michigan) are thanked for helpful conversations before and after the meeting. This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Grant 1135358, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Grant UL1TR000100. The content and opinions are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NIH.