FAQs about IUP's Mandatory Online Ethics Training for Students

All students who engage, or plan to engage, in systematic interaction with human and/or animal research subjects that requires approval by the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB) or by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must complete training in human subjects research or animal care and use. If your research does not require IRB or IACUC oversight, this training is not mandatory for you. IUP also offers other trainings through CITI, but they are not required unless you are a recipient of NSF or PHS funds. Ethical conduct of research is important for maintaining the public trust, protecting human and animal research subjects, and engaging in best practices. IUP’s training requirement helps ensure that students understand their obligations to protect their human and animal subjects and to protect the integrity of research and scholarship at IUP.

Log on to CITI here

The PowerPoint slides available at the bottom of this page use screen shots from CITI to help walk you through the registration process step-by-step.

When registering for CITI, you will answer six questions that help determine your course(s) of study. You can change the course(s) at any time in the "Learner Tools" section after registration. If your research is subject to IRB oversight, you must select a basic course in the protection of human research subjects (this is question one on the CITI course registration page). If your research is subject to IACUC oversight, you must select a basic course in the protection of animal subjects (this is question four on the CITI course registration page).

Click the links for “view learning modules available” from the Online Research Ethics Training webpage.

Most students have reported that they completed the training in one to two hours (for the human subjects course) or one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours (for the animal subjects course).

In addition to courses on the protection of human subjects and animal subjects, IUP also offers CITI training in responsible conduct of research, financial conflict of interest, export control, and biosafety/biosecurity. These trainings are excellent, but they are not required unless you are a recipient of NSF or PHS funds.

You may take the training at any time and should plan to complete it before submitting a protocol to the IRB or IACUC. Under no circumstances will you receive IRB or IACUC approval without a CITI completion certificate for your field of study (human subjects for IRB; animal subjects for IACUC).

No, the training does not expire.

Yes. Each university that subscribes to CITI chooses its own learning modules and determines which are required and which are elective. IUP's offerings and requirements are unique; therefore all students must complete IUP's CITI training.

Once your training is completed, you may print copies of your training certificates by logging into CITI, using your username and password, and clicking the “Print” link under the Completion Reports column in My Reports.