U-M to require research conduct certification

Updated 10:00 AM February 28, 2005

U-M to require research conduct certification

By Lee Katterman
Office of the Vice President for Research

All principal investigators (PIs) and co-investigators (Co-Is) of new or competing renewals of projects will be required beginning this spring to be certified in basic guidelines for responsible research practices.

Faculty, staff and students who participate in externally funded research programs can obtain certification in PEERRS, or Program for Education and Evaluation in Responsible Research and Scholarship, through a web-based training program. Any project with a start date of June 1, 2005 or later will require that the PI and any Co-Is become certified.

Just over 18 months ago, the University launched this ambitious program after the federal government issued a call for a requirement for universities. The government withdrew its mandate, but the University continued with the creation of such a certification to foster uniform research practices.

Since then, more than 4,000 individuals on campus have registered with PEERRS and been certified in one or more of the seven modules currently offered (see end of this story for brief descriptions of PEERRS modules). Certification includes areas such as research administration, conflict of interests and issues involving animal research. It must be completed before spending from the new research project account will be authorized.

Researchers can complete certification, however, anytime prior to being approved for funding. Each module test includes 5-6 multiple-choice questions. Most faculty members can review all of the material in the three required modules in about an hour. Furthermore, users can go directly to the certification step, if they wish, prior to viewing a module.

The new University certification requirements for all researchers expands upon the previous requirements that applied only to new PIs and Co-Is or those with funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. The new rules require that all researchers with external funding, no matter how long they have conducted research on campus, be certified in at least three areas—foundations of responsible research conduct, research administration and conflict of interest.

"I'm very pleased with the way the faculty have embraced PEERRS," says Fawwaz Ulaby, vice president for research. "The feedback I've received suggests that many PIs recognize the value in widespread communication of these important fundamental principles of research practice."

The extended requirement is being instituted with the recommendation of the SACUA Research Policies Committee (RPC) and the concurrence of the deans of the schools and colleges.

"After hearing about the large number of faculty who have completed PEERRS to date, the RPC believed it is worthwhile to have all PIs review these core modules for the key information they provide," says Mary N. Haan, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and RPC chair. "And since PEERRS is also a valuable teaching tool for our graduate students and postdocs, I think experienced PIs will want to know what's in the PEERRS module, even if the material is largely review for them."

This spring PEERRS plans to introduce a new module on publications and authorship. This module, written by James Shayman, professor of internal medicine, is aimed at graduate students, postdocs, and new faculty. It discusses the fundamental responsibilities of authors, issues related to multi-author publications, and the varying publications norms and practices that exist among academic disciplines.

"PEERRS has evolved into a valuable resource for the campus," Ulaby says. "And we've even had other institutions ask to adopt our system for their own campuses. I expect this program to continue to evolve and grow to meet important educational needs related to research responsibility."

To learn more about PEERRS, go to: http://www.research.umich.edu/training/peerrs.html. To begin PEERRS training, go to: http://my.research.umich.edu/peerrs/.

A UMICH (Kerberos) password and uniqname are needed to sign into the system.

Starting June 1 all PIs and Co-Is must be certified in Foundations, Research Administration and Conflict of Interest prior to starting a new externally funded project.

PEERRS Modules

• Foundations of responsible research conduct (publication/authorship, intellectual property, conflict of interest, signatures, plagiarism, misconduct reporting);

• Research Administration (U-M procedures/forms, PI responsibilities, pre- and post-award activities, federal regulations, important contacts);

• Conflict of Interest (definitions and recognizing potential conflicts, responsibilities toward students/colleagues, consulting and conflict of commitment, sponsored project and technology transfer issues);

• Human Research (basic module covering definition of human subjects research, why is human subjects research regulated, regulatory and ethical responsibilities of the PI, IRB, and University). The basic Human Research module is offered as three tracks, depending on the type of research the PEERRS user is involved in, and which roughly correspond to the three types of IRBs on the U-M campus.

The three tracks are:

• biomedical sciences

• health sciences

• social and behavioral sciences; and

• Animal Research (principles and regulations for animal care and use, regulatory and ethical obligations of investigators, reporting requirements, obtaining approval).

U-M to require research conduct certification

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