The principal investigator and all personnel engaged in the conduct of research with human subjects are required to complete the training. Basically, an individual who will intervene or interact for research purposes with any human subjects of the research, obtain the informed consent of human subjects for the research, or obtain for research purposes identifiable private information form any source is considered engaged in the conduct of research with human subjects. See information regarding federal guidance to determine when an individual is engaged in human subjects research. It is the principal investigator’s responsibility to ensure that all engaged personnel have satisfied the IRB training requirement.

Researchers should select the track that is most appropriate to the type of research that will be conducted. The Social and Behavioral Research Module (S&BR) relates to studies on sociological, psychological, anthropological, or educational investigations including observational and survey research and work with population and/or epidemiological studies. There are also specific S&BR tracks if your research involves children, foreign countries (international), internet, or prisoners. The Biomedical Research Module would apply for medical, physiological, or pharmacological studies.

If you are working on a human subject research project with investigators who are not affiliated with UGA, these individuals are still required to complete the CITI training. Submit a copy of this researcher’s CITI certificate to verify training completion from another institution.

If the researcher has completed training other than CITI, submit a verification of training. In most cases, the completion of training that meets the requirements of this individual’s home institution will be acceptable.

This individual may take the CITI training through UGA but must enter the name of the principal investigator of the proposed study in lieu of the UGA Employee # on the CITI Registration Page.

If you completed CITI at another institution, you will need to log in and change your institutional affiliation. After you affiliate with UGA, you will be able to access the list of modules required by UGA IRB. The list will update to include any that you’ve already completed and show those that will still need to be completed.

There are instances when your research area or subject population may change, and certification in your initial Learner Group is no longer sufficient. For instance, a researcher initially conducted basic behavioral studies (i.e., completed Group 1 - Social and Behavioral Research) and later wishes to conduct a study with children in public elementary schools. Two additional modules - Research with Children and Research in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools - must then be completed.

Each CITI module has text to read and a quiz to complete. The average learner spends approximately 2 to 3 hrs in the Basic Course site. You may use multiple log-ins to complete the course but you should take the quizzes immediately after completing each module.

A passing score of 80% is required. If you are not satisfied with your score, you can retake the quiz.

The links to the quizzes are at the bottom of each module in the footer of the page. You may access the quiz by logging on to the site and going to the Learners Menu. Once you are at the Learners Menu, click on either the Basic Course or the Refresher Course to access your Grade Book. There are links in the Grade Book to provide you access to all the modules. You must complete the first required module before you can access the next module. As you complete modules, the next module in the sequence will become available. After all required modules are completed, the optional modules will become available for you to review.

The software will track your progress through the course. The Grade Book will provide a list of the modules you have completed, and those remaining to be completed in your required course of instruction. When all required modules have been completed with a passing aggregate score, the software will provide you with a link (at the bottom of the Grade Book page) to print or download your course completion report. This report is like a transcript and will provide a detailed record of the completed modules. You should save an electronic or hard copy (or both) for your records. An electronic notification will likewise be sent to our office.

All members of the research team must have completed the CITI training at the time of application submission. If the Human Subjects Office (HSO) receives an IRB application and the training requirement has not been satisfied by all research team members, initial review of the application cannot begin and the application will be sent back to the principal investigator.

Yes. As with initial reviews, the IRB cannot review protocols at the time of their continuing review unless all key personnel have been trained. If the IRB cannot complete the reapproval process because research personnel have not been trained, the protocol will be suspended and subject accrual must cease immediately. When new personnel will be added to a project, this is considered an Amendment that must first be approved by the IRB. Training certificates for any new personnel must also be submitted with the submission of the IRB Request for Continuing Review or Amendment.

The training site can be found at https://www.citiprogram.org/default.asp.

Certification will be valid for five (5) years from the date of initial training completion. CITI offers a refresher course which must be completed every 5 years.

You may utilize the automated username/password retrieval system by clicking on the "Forgot Username and Password" link located on the left of the Welcome page.  If you made an error in providing your email address or there are firewalls to prevent HTML attachments, your request will not be filled and you will need to contact CITI Support at 305.243.7970. 

There is no fee for individual users. The University pays a flat annual fee regardless of the number of users.

Yes. The main CITI website provides links to apply for Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Education Units ( CME /CEU) credits through the University of Miami CME office.

Please contact the UGA IRB at IRB@uga.edu if you have any questions about the training requirements. If you are having technical problems with the CITI site or course, contact the CITI Office at citisupport@med.miami.edu or at 305.243.7970.