Every discipline at the University of Michigan engages in research. The approach to performing research varies significantly between disciplines. Half of the course will be discipline-specific research methods and half will be the responsible conduct of research (RCR).

This course will teach research methods for the natural sciences. Topic areas include:

• appropriate citation of sources and avoiding plagiarism
• authorship and publication practices and responsibilities
• acquisition, management, ownership and sharing of data
• research misconduct, including data fabrication and falsification
• personal, professional and financial conflicts of interest
• supervisory and mentoring relationships and responsibilities
• responsibilities of collaborative research
• protection of human beings and welfare of laboratory animals when research involves human participants and animal subjects.

This will include an overview of example research projects, the methods for performing research, and the tools needed.

The mechanisms for communicating research, such as conferences, articles, papers and books will be discussed.

In addition there are areas common to conducting research in any discipline, such as appropriate citation of sources, authorship practices, acquisition, management and sharing of data.

Course Requirements:

Grading based on a combination of in-class participation, written essays on case studies, and class quizzes. No final exam.

Intended Audience:

Undergraduates or graduate students involved in research. Required of all students who are working in labs and being compensated from federal grants.

This course is designed to meet the requirement for training in the responsible conduct of research.

Class Format:

Format is interactive lecture. Course meets one hour per week in a full term, or two hours per week in the half term.