Responsible Conduct of Research

RCR Boilerplate Language

Disclaimer: Please use this information as appropriate and applicable to your application. The content provided below is not meant to replace individually tailored RCR education plans. Using this information verbatim is not recommended.

Washington University provides education in ethics and responsible conduct in research via web-based trainings and face-to-face workshops.

Web-based Education

WashU provides two web-based trainings:

  • Responsible & Ethical Conduct of Research for faculty and staff.
  • Program for Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Science and Scholarship (PERCSS) Core Curriculum for students, postdocs, and other trainees.

These web-based trainings offer learning modules on the following RCR areas:

  • Introduction to Ethical and Responsible Research
  • Authorship and Publication
  • Collaborative Research
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Data Ownership, Acquisition, Sharing, and Management
  • Mentor-Trainee Relationships
  • Peer Review
  • Research Integrity

Face-to-face Training Workshops

PERCSS Workshops are four hours in duration and are offered annually. The workshops include lectures providing an introduction to common ethical issues, and WashU policies and guidelines related to research. Workshops also include small group discussions led by WashU senior faculty. Groups discuss hot topics and case studies related to responsible conduct of research.

Completion of RCR web-based trainings and face-to-face sessions is tracked by the school, department, or program. For more information, visit the OVCR’s Responsible Conduct of Research page.