UMass Boston

Required Training

Requirements:

All UMass Boston research staff who are engaged in research involving human subjects must complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) online training prior to conducting human research and again every three (3) years. 

UMass Boston provides the following two CITI training courses related to human research protections. Either course will be accepted. You may select the group appropriate to your research interests.

  • Social & Behavioral Research 

OR

  • Biomedical Research 

Note: Other CITI courses (e.g., Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR); Conflict of Interest; Good Clinical Practice (GCP) – Social and Behavioral Research Best Practices for Clinical Research; Students-Class Projects; Export Controls) do not fulfill the required human research protections training. 

Instructions:

  1. Use the UMass Boston CITI Single Sign-On (SSO) link above. Enter your campus-wide UMass Boston email and password. 
  2. Please be sure that your CITI profile has your first name, last name, and UMass Boston email address (XXXX.XXXX@umb.edu) as your primary email address. Your CITI profile must have your UMass Boston email as your primary email address. This allows your CITI trainings taken through UMass Boston to display in Kuali.
  3. Under My Courses, select View Courses for University of Massachusetts Boston
  4. Scroll down to Learner Tools for University of Massachusetts Boston 
  5. To add a new course, select Add Course. In Question 1: Select "Yes, I conduct research with live human beings, human samples or with data derived from human beings."
  6. Choose either Social & Behavioral Research or Biomedical Research. (Do not select IRB Members.)

CITI training(s) from another organization:  While the IRB will accept equivalent external CITI training certificates, we strongly encourage UMass Boston researchers to take our trainings. External trainings will not appear in the UMass Boston CITI database or display in Kuali unless you transfer those courses to your UMass Boston CITI account yourself. To transfer courses, log into the CITI SSO link above and follow the screen selection to "Add Affiliation" (add the external institution's name). Then, add the UMass Boston course equivalent. Only external CITI courses that match exactly (course and stage) will transfer, and you will need to complete the difference in modules in the UMass Boston course. Be sure to complete the Integrity Assurance Statement for the course.

External (non-UMass Boston) study staff: External research staff who do not have a CITI account and do not have a UMass Boston email will not be able to use the UMass Boston SSO link above. They can still register with CITI following the guide below to take our CITI courses at no cost to them. 

For CITI technical assistance, contact or visit CITI support.

Looking for other online educational content?

Faculty, students, staff, researchers, and participants can visit the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) web site for a large selection of online educational content about the IRB and human research protections. Below are a few examples.

How IRBs Protect Human Research Participants (6:45, YouTube video)

Participating in Social & Behavioral Research (6:05, YouTube video)

Protecting Your Privacy in Human Research (6:43, YouTube video)

OHRP - About Research Participation Video Series (YouTube videos)

OHRP - Human Research Protection Training (short online lessons)