National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Responsible Conduct of Research

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) first implemented a Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training requirement through its February 2013 Research Terms and Conditions and continues to maintain these requirements through current agency guidance and award terms and conditions.

NIFA requires institutions receiving NIFA-funded extramural research awards to promote research integrity and provide training in the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCR).

Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research training is required for individuals participating in NIFA-funded research activities, including program directors, faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research staff involved in the project.

At a minimum, NIFA identifies authorship and plagiarism, data and research integrity, and reporting research misconduct as required training content. Additional topics often include data management, peer review, mentoring, collaboration, conflicts of interest, human subjects, and animal research. 

Virginia Tech fulfills this requirement through online training delivered via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) and other institutional resources as applicable. Instructions on how to access the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research course. CITI learners are required to complete the Basic Responsible Conduct of Research Course.

Award recipients are expected to maintain documentation of Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research training and make such documentation available to NIFA upon request. Principal Investigators play an important role in encouraging personnel covered by NIFA Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCR) requirements and supported by their NIFA-funded projects, including subawards, to complete applicable RCR training in accordance with institutional requirements.

If you have any questions regarding the NIFA RCR training requirement, please see the Research Integrity website.