Research Agenda: The Effects of Responsible-Conduct-of-Research Training on Attitudes

Requirements for training in responsible conduct of research have significantly increased over the past 25 years, despite the absence of evidence for a substantial impact. One of the challenges has been to choose among the many possible goals that might define outcomes. Although much of the focus of research has been on changes in knowledge or skills, a case can be made that attitudes and perceptions are at least as important. Based on a recently completed pilot study, the authors propose several areas for research to clarify not only what but also how attitudes and perceptions would be usefully assessed.