16 · Survey Results: Executive Summary
requirements, lack of self-expertise identified by fac-
ulty, and a growing realization of the gaps in both the
practical and conceptual aspects of RCR have opened
the door for librarians to expand their service offer-
ings from plagiarism awareness and citation manage-
ment to also include ethics case study selection, data
management and sharing, and responsible authorship
practices.
As libraries strive to remain relevant to the univer-
sity, the area of RCR offers opportunities to support
the research community in helping meet the expec-
tations of training that are now required by grant-
ing agencies. Although CITI and IRB/IACUC online
training sessions are becoming the de facto require-
ment for ethics training, gaps remain in the thorough-
ness of training provided. Research indicates that
conversations need to be held more than once, e.g., at
the discipline/department/lab levels.9 Faculty are un-
equipped or don’t have time for engaging discussions
with their post-docs and graduate students.
Tips for librarians to help fill in gaps in RCR train-
ing include:
• Continue training in librarians’ tradi-
tional strengths in the how-tos and prac-
tical aspects, such as citing and citation
management.
• Include high concepts and critical thinking
skills within training workshops.
• Coordinate training in plagiarism aware-
ness with course instructors, writing cen-
ters, graduate schools.
• Link citing/plagiarism training activities
to university-level RCR training advertise-
ments and events.
• Provide or raise RCR awareness at un-
dergraduate and early graduate levels in
ethics education, including identification of
relevant case studies for courses or depart-
ments include both academic integrity and
research integrity.
• Embed RCR aspects within course-integrat-
ed instruction.
• Offer RCR awareness geared toward inter-
national students, whose cultural differ-
ences in topics such as plagiarism imply a
deeper level of training is needed.
• Brace for increased training in the data
management component, because librarians
have the skill sets for the tasks, the need
will increase, and librarians are likely to be
asked for assistance.
Librarians may be surprised to learn that many
aspects of RCR training fall within their comfort
level, and the Selected Documents section illustrates
several guides that are being used successfully by
other librarians. One strategy is to market the tradi-
tional workshops of plagiarism and citing under the
broader banner of RCR and thus to open the door
to expanding into other RCR facets as appropriate.
Another strategy is to expand our activities from the
task-oriented content of avoiding plagiarism and how
to cite to the educational scope of establishing the
context and importance of why we cite and its value
in academic integrity and research integrity, as has
been proposed elsewhere.10
Training in RCR can be incorporated into several
levels of campus activities. From identifying case
studies to leading discussions to conducting work-
shops that create awareness, librarians can increase
their comfort levels as they progress through activi-
ties in applied ethics education and demonstrate a
relevant role within the research university.
Endnotes
1 Retraction Watch http://www.retractionwatch.
com
2 Federal Research Misconduct Policy http://ori.
dhhs.gov/federal-research-misconduct-policy
3 The Interagency Advisory Panel on Research
Ethics (PRE), 2013, http://ethics.gc.ca/eng/index/
and the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS-
2) http://ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique/
initiatives/tcps2-eptc2/Default/
4 CITI: Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative
http://www.citiprogram.org
5 ORI: the Office of Research Integrity http://ori.
dhhs.gov/
requirements, lack of self-expertise identified by fac-
ulty, and a growing realization of the gaps in both the
practical and conceptual aspects of RCR have opened
the door for librarians to expand their service offer-
ings from plagiarism awareness and citation manage-
ment to also include ethics case study selection, data
management and sharing, and responsible authorship
practices.
As libraries strive to remain relevant to the univer-
sity, the area of RCR offers opportunities to support
the research community in helping meet the expec-
tations of training that are now required by grant-
ing agencies. Although CITI and IRB/IACUC online
training sessions are becoming the de facto require-
ment for ethics training, gaps remain in the thorough-
ness of training provided. Research indicates that
conversations need to be held more than once, e.g., at
the discipline/department/lab levels.9 Faculty are un-
equipped or don’t have time for engaging discussions
with their post-docs and graduate students.
Tips for librarians to help fill in gaps in RCR train-
ing include:
• Continue training in librarians’ tradi-
tional strengths in the how-tos and prac-
tical aspects, such as citing and citation
management.
• Include high concepts and critical thinking
skills within training workshops.
• Coordinate training in plagiarism aware-
ness with course instructors, writing cen-
ters, graduate schools.
• Link citing/plagiarism training activities
to university-level RCR training advertise-
ments and events.
• Provide or raise RCR awareness at un-
dergraduate and early graduate levels in
ethics education, including identification of
relevant case studies for courses or depart-
ments include both academic integrity and
research integrity.
• Embed RCR aspects within course-integrat-
ed instruction.
• Offer RCR awareness geared toward inter-
national students, whose cultural differ-
ences in topics such as plagiarism imply a
deeper level of training is needed.
• Brace for increased training in the data
management component, because librarians
have the skill sets for the tasks, the need
will increase, and librarians are likely to be
asked for assistance.
Librarians may be surprised to learn that many
aspects of RCR training fall within their comfort
level, and the Selected Documents section illustrates
several guides that are being used successfully by
other librarians. One strategy is to market the tradi-
tional workshops of plagiarism and citing under the
broader banner of RCR and thus to open the door
to expanding into other RCR facets as appropriate.
Another strategy is to expand our activities from the
task-oriented content of avoiding plagiarism and how
to cite to the educational scope of establishing the
context and importance of why we cite and its value
in academic integrity and research integrity, as has
been proposed elsewhere.10
Training in RCR can be incorporated into several
levels of campus activities. From identifying case
studies to leading discussions to conducting work-
shops that create awareness, librarians can increase
their comfort levels as they progress through activi-
ties in applied ethics education and demonstrate a
relevant role within the research university.
Endnotes
1 Retraction Watch http://www.retractionwatch.
com
2 Federal Research Misconduct Policy http://ori.
dhhs.gov/federal-research-misconduct-policy
3 The Interagency Advisory Panel on Research
Ethics (PRE), 2013, http://ethics.gc.ca/eng/index/
and the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS-
2) http://ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique/
initiatives/tcps2-eptc2/Default/
4 CITI: Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative
http://www.citiprogram.org
5 ORI: the Office of Research Integrity http://ori.
dhhs.gov/
