The Ohio State University

Office of Responsible Research Practices
The Ohio State University
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Human Subjects Protection (HSP)

All investigators and key personnel who participate in the design, conduct, and/or reporting of human subjects research (including exempt research) and all IRB members and IRB staff must be appropriately trained in the protection of human subjects. The university uses the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) web-based human subjects protection courses to satisfy this requirement for faculty, staff, and students involved in human subjects research. Initial and continuing education (every 3 years) are required as explained below.

Training must be completed prior to receiving initial or continuing IRB review of research. CITI course completions may take up to 2 hours to be reflected in Ohio State systems.

For CITI access instructions and other guidance, please click here.

New Users

Completion of a CITI human subjects protection course is required for investigators and key personnel. The coursework is available in two tracks, both of which meet the training requirement: Human Subjects Protection (Biomedical) or Human Subjects Protection (Social and Behavioral). To receive maximal benefit, you should choose the track most closely related to the research in which you are involved. Each track contains up to 16 required modules and several optional modules. Each module may take from 10 to 30 minutes to complete, and most contain a quiz. The modules do not have to be completed all in one session. A minimum aggregate score of 80% is required to pass the course.

Returning Users

Continuing education in human subjects protection is required every three years. The continuing education schedule is as follows:

CITI will automatically choose which course (Refresher Course 1, Refresher Course 2, or Basic Human Subjects Protection Course) returning users are due to take.

Each refresher course takes an average of 2 hours to complete.

Most modules contain a quiz. The modules do not have to be completed all in one login session. A minimum aggregate score of 80% is required to pass the course. Continuing education courses are available 90 days before expiration.

Transferring CITI Completion from Another Institution

To transfer your completed modules from another institution to The Ohio State University, follow these steps.

  1.  Log on to http://go.osu.edu/citi with your Ohio State Username (lastname.#) and Password
  2.  If necessary, complete the Office of Research User Registration and click “Submit Registration”.
  3.  Select “I am an existing CITI user” and follow the prompts to access your CITI account.
  4.  From the CITI Main Menu, click on “Affiliate With Another Institution”.
  5.  Choose “Ohio State University” from the menu.
  6.  When prompted, choose the human subjects protection Basic Course, either Human Subjects Protection (Biomedical) or Human Subjects Protection (Social and Behavioral), to match the coursework that you completed previously. Matching modules will automatically transfer into the Ohio State affiliated course.
  7.  Within the course, review “The Ohio State University” module and complete any modules Ohio State requires that your other institution did not.

Course Completion

Course completion will be registered electronically with the Office of Responsible Research Practices.  Note: CITI course completions may take up to 2 hours to be reflected in Ohio State systems.  For all courses, to view and print your course completion records, select “View-Print-Share” under “Completion Record” on the Main Menu.

Print and retain a copy of the completion report for your records.

Continuing Education Credit (CME or CEU)

Continuing education credits for physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, psychologists and other health care providers may be available through the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Division of Continuing Medical Education. See Continuing Education Credits for CITI Courses for more information.

Questions or Assistance

For information on how to access CITI, add courses, and other guidance, visit the CITI Knowledgebase.

For technical questions regarding CITI access or
course completions not registering with Ohio State:
ORIS Help Desk
614-688-8288
orhelpdesk@osu.edu

For all other questions:
Ellen Patricia
614-688-5556
patricia.1@osu.edu