Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI)Program Announcement

Penn State is committed to modeling, teaching and promoting responsible conduct of research (RCR) within the University community. Research integrity is fundamental to good research and crosses all disciplines and areas of focus. The impetus to complement professional preparatory education with RCR training stems from numerous sources including federal regulations governing the conduct of scientific research, University policies, and professional codes of conduct. More specifically, the recent AMERICA Competes Act, which was signed into law in 2007, includes a requirement that graduate students who are supported as research personnel on National Science Foundation awards receive training in the responsible conduct of research. This new regulation adds to existing requirements from the National Institutes of Health mandating RCR education for all graduate students and postdocs supported by National Research Service Awards.

As research has become more complex, more collaborative, and more costly, issues of research ethics have become similarly complex, extensive, and important. The education of graduate students at Penn State must prepare students to face these issues in their professional lives. The SARI (Scholarship and Research Integrity) program at Penn State is designed to offer graduate students comprehensive, multilevel training in the responsible conduct of research, in a way that is tailored to address the issues faced by individual disciplines.

SARI at PSU

Based on guidance provided by the Council of Graduate Schools in a report entitled "Graduate Education for the Responsible Conduct of Research," the SARI model includes both interdisciplinary and program-specific RCR content.

The SARI program has two parts:

• 1) During the first year of enrollment, graduate students will be required to complete an online RCR training program provided by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). The Office for Research Protections (ORP) will provide the conduit to this training via the SARI Resource Portal on the ORP website (www.research.psu.edu/orp/sari/).
• 2) Graduate students will also be required to engage in an additional 5 hours of discussion-based RCR education prior to degree completion. These discussions will encompass both universal and discipline-specific material.

The SARI program will be implemented by PSU colleges and graduate programs in a way that meets the particular needs of each unit's students. While all graduate students will benefit from the discussion-based portion of the SARI program, the online CITI program will be most applicable to students who will be engaged in thesis-directed research. If your college includes professional masters degrees to which the CITI RCR program may not be applicable, you may request a waiver for these program when submitting your program plan.

College Involvement

The SARI program will be designed by and administered through each college at PSU, with training of graduate students to begin in fall semester 2009. In anticipation of this start date, each college should develop a plan for how graduate students in their programs will meet the 5 hours of discussion-oriented RCR education. This part of the SARI program should address broad as well as discipline-specific issues. Colleges may be able to develop a single program that works for all students within the college; alternatively, colleges may encompass several categories of graduate work (e.g. Biomedicine, Science and Engineering; Social Sciences; Humanities; and Professional), and it maybe more relevant to have departmentally-anchored training programs. The Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School will assume responsibility for insuring that the graduate students in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs meet the RCR requirements. IGDP programs have two choices: they may develop their own RCR training programs or they may require that each graduate student be included in the RCR training provided by her or his advisor's home department.

The Office of Research Protections and its RCR staff will provide extensive resources to support the SARI program and its implementation by the colleges. Resources available will include:

• Training opportunities for faculty involved in teaching RCR
• Centrally sponsored RCR workshops to complement college offerings
• Individualized consultation and advice
• Online resources through the SARI Resource Portal, on the ORP website
  • Access to the CITI program
  • Teaching resources, such as slide shows and case studies, for RCR education
  • Online training modules
  • Video archives of workshops and educational presentations on RCR topics
  • Links to classroom resources and tips
  • Links to external online resources

SARI Program Implementation

Colleges should begin to develop their SARI Program Plan(s) immediately. Please consider the types of research and scholarship in which graduate students in your programs are engaged, and how best to address both general and discipline-specific issues across the different fields represented within your college. For example, graduate programs at Penn State could be broadly categorized as Biomedicine, Science and Engineering; Social Sciences; Humanities; and Professional. If students in your programs fall into more than one of these categories, it may be most appropriate to submit separate SARI plans for the different categories. The final plan each college develops should be submitted to the Office for Research Protections no later than May 15, 2009. Prior to this, the ORP will review plans and provide feedback as desired. Please submit specific plans that include a detailed description of educational activities that will be offered (e.g. length, topic, instructional delivery, and target audience). See the attached SARI Program Plan template for guidance.

SARI Record Keeping and Reporting

Colleges are responsible for record keeping related to participation in SARI educational activities. Participation in the CITI RCR online training program will be tracked by the Office for Research Protections (ORP) and completion lists will be sent annually to each college for comparison against enrollment records. Attendance at discussion-based activities should be documented through sign-in sheets or other mechanisms to help with tracking of student participation.

After the SARI program has been implemented, colleges should submit an assurance to the ORP by June 30 each year, identifying graduate student participants for the previous academic year in either the CITI RCR program or discussion-based activities offered according to the plan submitted. Forms will be distributed to facilitate the assurance process.

Questions about the SARI Program

The Office for Research Protections is available to assist colleges in the preparation of SARI plans. Questions may be directed to Sharon Shriver at sps10@psu.edu or Michelle Stickler at mstickler@psu.edu.