Compliance - University of Houston
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Ensuring Ethical Research

Research Integrity and Oversight (RIO) and other offices support the UH research community in all aspects of regulatory review and Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), including the ethical treatment of human and animal subjects, the assessment of conflicts of interest, export controls, allegations of research misconduct and noncompliance, and the congruency of research awards.

Research Ethics

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    Human Subjects (IRB)

    The Institutional Review Board (IRB) works to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects who participate in research in accordance with federal regulations and ethical principles.
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    Animal Subjects (IACUC)

    The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) ensures that the highest animal welfare standards are maintained in all research, teaching, testing, and experimentation activities using vertebrates.
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    Responsible Conduct of Research

    RIO provides guidance and training on various Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) core areas, and reviews adherence to RCR plans required by federal sponsors.

Compliance and Regulations

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    Conflict of Interest

    Financial conflicts of interest in research involve situations in which a researcher has a significant financial interest that may compromise, or have the appearance of compromising, professional judgment in the design, conduct, or reporting of research.
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    Effort Reporting

    UH maintains internal controls for accurate, allowable, and properly allocated compensation for work performed managed by the Office of Contracts and Grants.
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    Congruency Review

    A congruency review is a side by side comparison of a proposal (grant, award, contract, subaward, etc.) to a protocol to ensure that all activities outlined in that proposal have been reviewed and approved by the corresponding committees (IRB, IACUC, Biosafety, Radiation/Laser).

Research Misconduct

Allegations of Research Misconduct can be reported through the UH Fraud & Non-compliance Hotline. UH has selected ClearView Connects to operate our Fraud & Non-Compliance Hotline to provide you with a simple way to make such reports. ClearView Connects hosts the reporting hotline on secure servers that are not part of the University's website or intranet and your reporting may be anonymous.

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Training and Resources

Compliance training is offered through the CITI Program at citiprogram.org. Use your @uh.edu email to register.

RIO also offers Responsible Conduct of Research training. Use the RCR Training Request Form to set up group training.

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Research protocols, financial disclosures and COI certifications are managed in the Integrated Compliance Oversight Network (ICON) at icon.research.uh.edu.

Features of ICON include:

  • Electronic submission of initial protocols, subsequent modifications/amendments, and renewals.
  • Submissions of concerns/reportable new information
  • Visual tracking of submission and review progress
  • Automatic reminders
  • Integrated library with regulatory and guidance documents