Research & Scholarship Integrity Program
All scholars and researchers face ethical issues over the course of their professional practices. Integral to the formation of your professional identity is an awareness and understanding of what responsible research and scholarship entails.
The Research and Scholarship Integrity program familiarizes students and postdoctoral fellows with good research and scholarship practices and with some of the ethical issues they may encounter during their professional careers. BC’s program is designed to meet the NIH and NSF requirements for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research.
Contact
Erin Sibley, Ph.D.
Director, Office for Research Protections
Office of the Vice Provost for Research
Phone
617-552-1758
Email
erin.sibley@bc.edu
Address
Waul House 208
270 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Ph.D. students and postdocs across the university must complete 8 hours of RSI programming (equivalent to four seminars) over their first two years at Boston College. Please note that as of Fall 2023, the following departments have opted out of the RSI program and will run their own research ethics programs: Nursing, Sociology, Philosophy, History, English, Theology, and Political Science. If you are a PhD student or postdoc in one of these programs, please contact your Chair for more information.
Program Structure
All components of the program must be completed within your first two years at BC. Under the new format, doctoral students and postdocs must complete eight hours of RSI sessions. Each RSI session is two hours long, and we will offer four per semester.
This means that in your first two years at BC, you will need to take four 2-hour sessions out of the sixteen that are offered.
Please note that during the 2023-24 school year, some sessions will be held in person, and some sessions will be held remotely, to accommodate as many participants as possible.
Schedule 2023-2024
Sponsored Programs, Export Controls, & Research Integrity
Speakers:
- Jennifer Lopez (Director of OSP)
- Leigh Alistair Barzey (Director, Research Security, Integrity and Compliance)
- Siri Nilsson (Associate Director, Office of Technology Transfer and Licensing)
Date:
Thursday, September 14, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Corcoran Commons
Lunch will be provided!
Copyright, Open Science Practices, Data Acquisition, and Teaching & Ethics
Speakers:
- Matt Gregas (Research Services Director)
- Elliot Hibbler (Scholarly Communication Librarian)
- Lester Carver (Boston College Librarian)
- Kim Humphrey (Assistant Director Equitable Teaching & Learning)
- Francesca Minonne (Assistant Director Graduate Student Programs)
Date:
Monday, September 18, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Heights Room
Lunch will be provided!
Copyright, Open Science Practices, Data Acquisition, and Teaching & Ethics
Speakers:
- Matt Gregas (Research Services Director)
- Elliot Hibbler (Scholarly Communication Librarian)
- Lester Carver (Boston College Librarian)
- Kim Humphrey (Assistant Director Equitable Teaching & Learning)
- Francesca Minonne (Assistant Director Graduate Student Programs)
Date:
Monday, September 18, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Heights Room
Lunch will be provided!
Ethical Issues in Clinical Research
Speakers:
- Aimee Milliken, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of the Practice at the Connell School of Nursing)
Date:
Thursday, October 5, 2023, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Murray Function Room
Lunch will be provided!
Grant Writing Workshop
Speakers:
- Betty Lai, Ph.D. (Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology)
Date:
Monday, October 16, 2023, 2:30pm-4:30pm
Where:
Heights Room
Sundae bar will be served!
***PLEASE NOTE due to demand, we are RE-OFFERING this course from last year. If you attended the grant writing workshop last year, you should NOT register for it again! Dr. Lai’s book will be distributed to the first 75 participants.
Rigor and Reproducibility
Speakers:
- Tracy Costello, Ph.D. (Director, Postdoctoral Affairs and Graduate Student Development, University of South Florida)
Date:
Monday, January 29, 2024, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Where:
On Zoom
Writing Op Eds
Speakers:
- Betty Lai, Ph.D. (Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology)
- Cal Halvorsen, Ph.D., MSW (Assistant Professor in School of Social Work)
Date:
Friday, February 9, 2024, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Murray Function Room
Lunch will be provided!
Race and Gender Bias in Research | Authorship Issues
Speakers:
- Andrés Castro Samayoa, Ph.D. (Associate Professor in Educational Leadership & Higher Education)
- Dani Melendez, MSW (Assistant Director of Research Integrity)
- Erin Sibley, MHA (Director for Research Protections)
Date:
Thursday, February 15, 2024, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Where:
Murray Function Room
Lunch will be provided!
Race and Gender Bias in Research | Authorship Issues
Speakers:
- Tracy Costello, Ph.D. (Director, Postdoctoral Affairs and Graduate Student Development, University of South Florida)
- Gretchen Brodnicki, MSW (Administrative Dean for Arts & Humanities at Harvard University)
Date:
Tuesday, March 19, 2024, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Where:
On Zoom
FAQ
To register for an RSI event, please make sure you are logged in to your BC e-mail in the same browser you are using to register. If you are using Chrome as your browser, please make sure you are signed out of all other non-BC gmail accounts.
The RSI program must be completed within the first two years of your studies or employment at BC.
No, it does not. The components of the RSI program can be completed in any order.
Please contact Stephanie Querzoli (querzoli@bc.edu) about any dietary restrictions. Please inform her of the RSI events you plan to attend.
Please contact Erin Sibley (erin.sibley@bc.edu) for an update of your progress in the RSI program. Over the summer, we will be posting a spreadsheet so that each participant can check their progress.
Yes, these are available in the event archive.