Research Compliance

The Office of Research Compliance

Scientific inquiry, scholarly contributions, creativity, and academic accomplishment can take many forms and may vary among disciplines. All faculty members, students and staff of Rowan University are ultimately responsible for the scholarly character, accuracy, reliability of their own research and scholarly activities. Safeguarding of research subjects and the research environment in which they work pursuant to Federal regulations, university policies, funding agency requirements, and contractual commitments are fundamental to uphold responsible conduct of research.

Rowan University is a comprehensive research, teaching and public service institution. The mission of Rowan University is to advance research and scholarly activities in pursuit of excellence. The Office of Research Compliance at Rowan University is established to support research and scholarly activities by assuring institutional and investigator compliance with applicable regulations, policies and guidelines. This assurance applies to use of animals in research, human subject research, research involving hazardous materials, use of recombinant materials (rDNA, and synthetic nucleic acids), research integrity, ethical conduct of research, conflict of interest and export control. The Office of Research Compliance provides training to all faculty, students and staff engaged in research and scholarly activities to promote intellectual curiosity and to promote a culture of compliance through shared responsibility.

The Office of Research Compliance is committed to provide support to the following activities:

To provide assistance to faculty, students and staff in meeting compliance requirements and to secure approval for the use of animals (IACUC), human subject (IRB) and use of recombinant and hazardous materials (IBC);
To assist faculty, students and staff in preparing forms and research protocols for submission to the appropriate review committees;
To provide resources and/or training to University constituents in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) as established by the federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and Rowan University to enhance public trust for research and scholarly activities in science, arts, social sciences and engineering;
To review declarations of conflict of interest of both funded and non-funded investigators no less than annually and to present conflicts of interests to the Committee for management and monitoring of conflict of interest;
To monitor and administer procedures for issues related to export-controlled technologies not protected by the fundamental research exemption (15 CFR 734.8) that remain subject to the EAR and/or to ITAR.

Research Integrity

Two major events, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial during World War II and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in the 1950s and 1960s, have forced the examination of ethical standards and the gradual agreement that potential human subjects need protection in scientific research. Over time the research establishment have created numerous policies to try and better protect the rights of research participants.

Responsible Conduct of Research

Responsible conduct of research starts with understanding the definitions, regulations, and procedures for handling allegations, and case histories

Institutional Review Board

The mission of Rowan University's IRB Offices are to support the University's research enterprise by ensuring the protection of individuals who participate in research; ensuring compliance with all pertinent federal and state laws and regulations; fostering the ethical conduct of human subjects research; and providing education and other services to the University's researchers regarding regulatory requirements and best practices.

Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee

Rowan University's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) mission is to assure the safe and ethical treatment of animals in research. Federal and university regulations require that all research involving animals conducted by Rowan faculty, staff, and students be reviewed and approved by the IACUC before initiation.

Institutional Biosafety Committee

The Office of Research Compliance is pleased to inform you that it is implementing an online chemical and biological safety program to educate researchers and their staff on the risks associated with working in a research laboratory, to enhance the culture of laboratory safety at Rowan University and to be in compliance with several laws and regulations.

Conflict of Interest

Rowan University recognizes and has addressed the need to establish safeguards to prevent employees, collaborators, subcontractors, subrecipients, and visiting scientists from using their positions for purposes that are, or give the appearance of being motivated by a desire for financial gain for themselves or others.

Export Controls

Research and inquiry into intellectual areas of great promise is one of the most basic obligations the Institution has to its faculty, to its students, and to society at large.

CITI Training

General training requirements, instructions, and guides using the CITI training website.