Dear UNM Researcher, Department Chair, Director, or Instructor:

The National Science Foundation ( NSF ) has recently announced that effective January 4, 2010 all undergraduate and graduate students as well as all postdoctoral students who are funded by NSF in any way must be provided research ethics training by the Principal Investigator and/or the institution. This is similar to previously established standards promulgated by the National Institutes of Health for all NIH grants that fund students of any level. We expect that eventually similar requirements will emanate from all Federal agencies for all Federally funded research.

Scientific integrity (also often also called "responsible conduct in research" [RCR] or "research ethics") courses for graduate and postdoctoral trainees and other students involved in research are currently required at most U.S. research institutions, and some departments at UNM currently provide such training.

Typical RCR subject matter that is included in training:

1. Data acquisition, management, sharing, and ownership
2. Conflicts of interest and commitment
3. Involvement of humans in research
4. Involvement of animals in research
5. Research misconduct
6. Publication practices and responsible authorship
7. Mentor and trainee responsibilities
8. Peer review
9. Collaboration in science

Additional topics that are often included in research ethics training include:

10. Financial management of grants and research
11. Research safety procedures
12. Scientific responsibilities to society

The University of New Mexico is committed to creating a comprehensive research ethics and integrity program that will formalize research ethics training and promote awareness of the ethical conduct of research through its Research Ethics and Integrity Program (REIP) located in the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholes Hall 327.

A brief needs assessment questionnaire is provided here to gather information about all current teaching and training efforts at UNM related to scientific integrity, responsible conduct of research, or research ethics - including any or all of the topics listed as the 9 basic RCR subjects - that may be part of other course offerings.

Please complete this brief questionnaire as accurately as possible for your department or unit by 16 October 2009.

For additional information about the REIP or questions about the questionnaire shown below, please contact Dr. William L. Gannon, Director, REIP, 277-3488 or 7-6128, wgannon@unm.edu, or http://research.unm.edu/researchethics/.

 

RCR Needs Assessment Questionnaire (estimated completion time = 10 minutes)

This Research ethics needs assessment questionnaire should be completed by the department or unit chair, vice chair of research, or designated faculty or staff who are most qualified to speak to the existing research training in your department or unit and/or to research ethics training needs of faculty and trainees.

This needs assessment questionnaire will take you about 10 minutes to complete.

Your responses will go a long way to providing UNM needed information about research ethics training needs. Please provide as correct / detailed responses as possible.

1. Approximately how many of each of the following types of individuals do you have in your department or unit who are involved in conducting or participating in research in any manner?

a. Faculty members
b. Postdoctoral students
c. Graduate students
d. Undergraduate students

2. Approximately how many of each of the following types of individuals in your department or unit are involved in conducting or participating in research with funding support from NSF or NIH?

a. Faculty members
b. Postdoctoral students
c. Graduate students
d. Undergraduate students

3. Please list any UNM course names and numbers along with instructor names that currently provide any training for any or all of the 9 basic RCR topics by faculty or trainees in your dept. or unit.

4. Please list any other types of courses, workshops, or other forms of training that faculty or trainees in your department or unit are involved in teaching or taking that provide any training for any or all of the 9 basic RCR topics:

5. Approximately what percentage of faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students who are involved in conducting research in your department or unit currently receive training in the 9 basic RCR topics:

a. Faculty members
b. Postdoctoral students
c. Graduate students
d. Undergraduate students

6. How important is it to provide research ethics training on the 9 basic RCR topics for the following individuals who are involved in conducting research in your field at UNM?

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Not at all Important    Somewhat Important    Extremely Important


a. Faculty members
b. Postdoctoral students
c. Graduate students
d. Undergraduate students

7. In general, how effective do you believe each mode of training listed below for research ethics on the 9 basic RCR topics would be if used for trainees at UNM?

By effective, we mean positively influencing researchers' abilities to identify and reason regarding research ethics related problems in a way that they can find constructive ethical approaches to problems encountered in their day-to-day research activities.

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Not at all Effective    Somewhat Effective    Extremely Effective


a. Face-to-face training with a research ethics expert in a seminar type class that involves mainly case-based discussions.
b. Face-to-face training with a research ethics expert in a mainly lecture-type class.
c. Online computer-based training with a research ethics expert instructor and the ability to interact with peers and instructor in online discussions.
d. Online computer-based training with no instructor and no ability to interact with peers.
e. Face-to-face training with a research ethics expert in a one-time workshop that involves both lectures and illustrative cases: 
 i. Of 3-4 hours duration
  ii. Of 7-8 hours duration
f. Assigned readings of research ethics materials followed by a series of online multiple choice tests.
g. Mentored research ethics training with a individual's supervisor over the course of research training

8. If a research ethics training course were created at UNM using either a, b, c, or d above, how effective would each level of credits and/or hours of training be to adequately cover the 9 basic RCR topics?

The few courses at UNM that currently teach the 9 basic RCR topics range from 1 to 3 semester hours of credit. Courses at other academic institutions and online span the range of the choices listed below.

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Not at all Effective    Somewhat Effective    Extremely Effective


a. A 3 semester hour credit course (48 class or online hours):
b. A 2 semester hour credit course (32 class or online hours):
c. A 1 semester hour credit course (16 class or online hours):
d. A non-academic credit course (8 class or online hours):
e. A non-academic credit course (4 class or online hours):

9. In your department or unit, how is research ethics training currently provided for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students? Also, please indicate how effective research ethics training currently is in your department or unit for trainees.

10. Is your department or unit able to support a faculty member in your department to teach research ethics if training of the instructor is provided by experts in the teaching of research ethics? That is, could a faculty member in your department be assigned to teach a research ethics course as a part of their normal teaching load? If no, please explain.

11. Are you aware of other institutions that do a particularly successful job of providing research ethics training in your field or in general? If yes, please identify those institutions and departments.

12. Please share any constructive comments regarding research ethics training for trainees.

13. Your department or unit:
14. Contact Information:  
a. Name
b. Email