Human Subjects Research training / CITI

What is CITI training?

  • Training on the rules, regulations, and ethical principles governing research involving human subjects
  • A series of online modules and quizzes, taking 4+ hours to complete.
  • Does NOT include HIPAA training. See the HIPAA Training Program website or contact the Office of Legal Affairs.

Who should complete CITI training?

  • Required* for all Principal Investigators and Student Principal Investigators
  • Strongly recommended for anyone interacting with research participants (consenting, recruiting, data collection, etc.).

* Effective January 19, 2018, CITI training is required for all PIs & Student PIs, renewal required every 3 years.

How do I complete CITI training?

  1. Visit the CITI training website.
  2. If you are already registered, either with a different institution or for the Graduate School’s Effort Reporting requirement, log in to your existing account. If your registration is with a different institution, you can add an affiliation to UWM (if applicable) from the Main Menu.
  3. If you are not registered, create an account. Click “Register” on the right side of the screen. In the box for Organization Affiliation, enter “University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee” and select it from the list.
  4. If you are taken to a list of affiliated institutions, click “View Courses” for UWM.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose “Add a course”.
  6. You will be prompted to choose the type of training. Choose IRB Human Subjects Training.
  7. Choose the course option that best fits the type of research you plan to conduct (Biomedical, Social-Behavioral, or Biomedical & Social-Behavioral combined). Note: There is also a fourth course for IRB Members. Most researchers don’t need to complete this one, which contains all the modules from the courses above plus a few additional ones.
  8. Complete the training. A score of at least 80% is required before a completion report will be issued.

If you have trouble logging in, contact citisupport@med.miami.edu or irbinfo@uwm.edu.

Check your training status in CITI:

  1. Log into CITI’s website
  2. At the top, click Records
  3. A list will appear of all training courses you have completed, along with their respective expiration dates.
    • CITI will also email you when your expiration date approaches so that you can sign up for a refresher.

Check your training status in I-Manager

*Note: This only works if your CITI account is associated with your UWM email address

  1. Log into I-Manager
  2. At the upper right, click [Your name]’s settings.
  3. Click My Expirations.
  4. The type(s) of CITI training you’ve completed will appear here, with the expiration date. If no date is listed, we don’t have a record of CITI training for you. If the date is red (i.e., in the past) then you will need to complete a refresher course.
    • Responsible Conduct of Research and Basics of Effort Reporting courses do NOT fulfill the IRB training requirement. You must have one of the IRB training courses listed.

FAQs

What is Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training?

All investigators and staff involved in the conduct, oversight, or management of federally-funded clinical trials must be trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The training is available through CITI. For federally-funded clinical trials, all study personnel will need to complete GCP training prior to IRB approval. GCP training is strongly recommended for study personnel on clinical trials that do not have federal funding.

Do I have to do the training all at once?

No, your progress is saved. You can leave it and come back to it over the course of several days. The total amount of time to complete it will vary based on several factors, but plan on a minimum of 4 hours.

What if I don’t get a high enough score?

You can review any module and retake the quiz until you get at least 80% overall score.

I forgot to print my completion report. What do I do?

You can log back in and print it anytime.

Who needs a copy of my completion report?

  • Keep a copy for your own records.
  • Some funding agencies or other IRBs will request documentation of completed CITI training.
  • You do NOT need to send a copy to the UWM IRB unless it is specifically requested. We have access to all completion reports done through UWM.

I got an email from CITI saying my training has expired. What do I need to do?

Complete the refresher course. Renewal is required every 3 years for PIs and SPIs.

I’m not the PI or SPI. Is there another option for me?

Your PI is responsible for determining the type of training required for your role in the research. This may include the full CITI training or completing select CITI modules, and/or in-person training on the protocol by the PI.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank the Graduate School for allowing the IRB to use the CITI training program.