Human Subjects Education Requirement

What is the human subjects training requirement?

  • The University of Oregon's human subjects training requirement is to provide research personnel with the necessary knowledge and understanding of the underlying ethical principles of human subjects research. In order to meet this basic training requirement, the University of Oregon uses the online Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training. CITI is a web-based training product that was designed by and is updated and maintained by nationally known IRB professionals. It is a program of the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York (BRANY).
  • Access CITI Program using your DuckID through the Single Sign On (SSO).

Who is required to have human subjects training?

  • All research personnel working with participants and/or identifiable participant data, including those unaffiliated with the University of Oregon, must be listed on the protocol and maintain current human subjects training. In addition, faculty members advising students (this includes faculty members not interacting with participants and/or identifiable participant data) on human subjects research must have current CITI training certification.

How do I satisfy the human subjects training requirement?

  • UO students, faculty, and staff working on a human subjects protocol must take either the Biomedical Researchers or the Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers learner group. These learner groups can be found on the CITI website under the Protection of Human Research Subjects training curriculum.
  • The minimum passing score is 80% and based on the entire course and not individual modules within a course. You may improve a score by repeating the module and quiz. When your Grade Book gives you an option to print a "Completion Report," it means you passed the course.
  • Training must be completed every two years. A refresher course may be taken two times. Once both refresher courses are completed, the basic course must be taken again.
  • Research personnel not affiliated with UO must also have CITI training. Anyone can create an account with CITI and affiliate with UO. In lieu of the UO CITI training requirement, UO may accept documentation of human subjects training completion in accordance with a researchers’ home institutions’ policy.

CITI and the RAP

  • When submitting human subjects applications the research administration portal (RAP), current CITI training for individuals affiliated with the University of Oregon will show up in the submission for each person listed on the protocol so long as the CITI profile information is an exact match to what is listed in the RAP.
    • To integrate properly, the individual's first name in their CITI profile must match the preferred first name as listed in DuckWeb. The last name and email address as must match what is listed in the University of Oregon database (Banner).
    • If your CITI account was set up when affiliated with another institution, update your CITI profile information so that your first name, last name, and email address match what is listed in the RAP.

Current human subjects training must be in place before engaging in human subject activities. The IRB will not issue final approval until training requirements are satisfied

It is the responsibility of the principal investigator to ensure every person on their research team is listed on the protocol and has current human subjects training certification.