Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Faculty Advisory Committee

Purpose/Mission
Oakland University (OU) is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards in the conduct of research and other scholarly activities. To uphold these rigorous standards, OU strives to promote a culture that fosters research integrity and promotes the responsible conduct of research through education, training, and engagement of the entire campus research community. 

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
Responsible conduct of research is the adherence of all members of the research community to a set of shared/core values, responsible research practices, federal regulations and disciplinary norms which ensure the honest and the trustworthy dissemination of knowledge. Adherence to these value and practices is fundamental to the integrity of science and the trust of the public.  They apply to all members of the research community at all stages of the research process including planning, proposing, reporting and reviewing research.

Many federal agencies have promoted training in RCR as a way to foster integrity in the research environment and to prevent misconduct.  Some federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) require it as summarized below. ORI has identified nine topics that are generally included in RCR training.

These include:
Mentorship
Data Management
Publication/Authorship
Peer Review
Human Subjects Research
Animal Subjects Research
Collaborative Research
Research Misconduct
Conflicts of Interest

See our Responsible Conduct of Research Training web page for more information.

Faculty advisory Committee
Engagement of the entire research community is essential to promoting a culture of integrity across the OU campus. Faculty play an essential role not only in understanding and teaching the norms within their respective disciplines, but also as serving as role models and mentors in the training of students and junior scientists. In view of their role in advancing the research mission of the university and ensuring integrity of the research process, OU established a faculty advisory committee in 2018 to oversee research integrity activities such as education and training in the responsible conduct of research and the development and implementation of guidelines and procedures that support such practices.

The faculty advisory committee shall be constituted with representation from schools and departments across the OU campus. The faculty advisory committee’s commitment to research integrity is as follows:

We are committed to giving faculty, students, and researchers the information, common language, skills and resources to make research integrity an ongoing integral part of the research culture at OU.

For more information, contact Domenic Luongo.