Human Subjects Education

Any faculty member or other Loyola employee conducting independent research or overseeing student-conducted research and any student working on independent research, a dissertation or thesis that involves research with human subjects is required to complete a free, online education program prior to the review of his or her application for approval of investigation involving human subjects. This requirement pertains to all investigators including those in departments that do not typically conduct research involving human subjects.

If the application is for a classroom project, the faculty member who assigned the project is responsible for both completing the online program and acquainting students with the human subjects education information. The faculty member is also responsible for ensuring that classroom-based projects are conducted in accordance with the policies and procedures for research involving human participants.

Our education program is run through CITI. Please go to CITIprogram.org to set up or log in to an account. 

If you have a CITI Program username and password:

• Log in with your existing CITI Program username and password. If you have forgotten your username or password, you can retrieve them through the "Forgot" links in either the username or password boxes.
• Once logged in, click "Add Institutional Affiliation" under the Welcome sign.
• Type and locate your institution via the dynamic drop-down list.
• Next, click on courses above and then “View Courses” next to Loyola University Maryland.
• There you will see where you can “Add a Course.”
• This will bring you to a series of questions. Question 1 relates to Human Subjects Research (HSR). Select the type of research you are conduction (Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers or Biomedical Researchers). Most will select the Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers. 
• Scroll to the bottom and hit “Submit.”

If this is the first time you have registered with CITI: 

• Find the register button on the upper right portion of the home page and click it to bring up the registration page. 
• Choose Loyola University Maryland from the search box. All active organizations are listed.  
• Enter your first and last name along with your email address. Please enter your name here as you would like it to appear on your completion report received at the end of the course.
  You can use any email address to register but we recommend not using your organizational email. The account belongs to you, the learner, and if you leave the institution you will still have access to the account if you use a non-organizational email. This means you can keep the same account and transfer credit if you affiliate with a new organization.
• Choose a username and password for your account. Please follow the on-screen instructions for the expected parameters of each field. Passwords are case sensitive. 
  During this step you will also select and answer a security question. This question will be used to assist in the recovery of your account if you have forgotten your username or password. Please select a question that is applicable to you and which you can comfortably answer for the tech support team.
• Enter your country of residence. 
• Professionals seeking credit for CITI Program courses can make their selection for Continuing Education credits during the next step. 
• The next section is organization specific. Enter the required information.
• In order to select the appropriate course, it will bring you to a series of questions. Question 1 relates to Human Subjects Research (HSR). Select the type of research you are conducting (Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers or Biomedical Researchers). Most will select the Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers. 
• Scroll to the bottom and hit “Submit.”
• After selecting your courses, click on “Finalize Registration.” Your learner account registration is complete. You will now be able to access the Main Menu of your account. Click on the course name to begin the course. If you need to change your course registration, click on Add a Course or Update Learner Group.

You do not have to complete the training all at one time. You can log in and out and it will save your progress. Once your training is complete, a copy of this certificate will be sent directly to ORSP. You may also submit it with your next submitted Institutional Review Board application. At that point, ORSP will maintain a database indicating investigators who have received certificates. Certification will need to be updated every three years.

Please note: If you have taken the NIH certification, we ask that everyone transition over to CITI training over the next three years (October 2021) and submit their certificate when it's complete.

For questions concerning required human subjects’ education, please view the Frequently Asked Questions page or contact:

Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
Knott Hall, Suite 002
Email: irb@loyola.edu