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CITI Training for Non-Swarthmore Investigators

Much like our Swarthmore investigators, all external investigators (e.g., key research personnel) including Co-Investigators, research assistants) engaging in human subject research are required by the College to complete and maintain training requirements relevant to the type of research being conducted. To satisfy this requirement, Swarthmore College offers the “Social & Behavioral Research” course at no cost to external investigators collaborating with Swarthmore investigators.

While the IRB encourages these external investigators to complete the Swarthmore “Social & Behavioral Research” course, the IRB will accept any CITI training course which is equivalent to the Swarthmore module content (note: the IRB will make the final determination as to which training will be accepted; consult with the IRB before submitting).  However, if an external researcher wishes to complete the Swarthmore “Social & Behavioral Research” course, they may do so by either: creating a new CITI account (only do this if you do not already have an account) or by affiliating an existing CITI account with Swarthmore College in order to access the Swarthmore courses.

Note: the College recognizes that in some cases the formal CITI training may not be a reasonable expectation for some external investigators to complete (e.g., CITI is not available in a language the investigator is fluent in or the internet is not available in the location of the researcher). In the event the formal CITI training is not a reasonable expectation, an alternative training may be possible. To determine if such an alternative is appropriate email the IRB, irb@swarthmore.edu, a brief summary of the research, the role the investigator will serve in the research, the reason(s) why the formal CITI training is not a reasonable expectation to pursue, and parameters of what may be reasonable training for the investigator (e.g., informal training presented by the PI to the external investigator).

Register for a New CITI Account

If you are an external investigator who does not have a CITI account and would like to affiliate with the Swarthmore College courses, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).
  2. Click on "Register", under "Create and Account".
  3. Under “Participating Institutions”, select “Swarthmore College” and continue to step 2
  4. Follow through the registration process, by answering all the required questions, but consider the following notes:
  • Provide a second email address in case recovery is necessary.
  • Users may choose to receive Continuing Education or to receive CITI research surveys (this is not required).
  • When selecting the curriculum, the course you are required to complete may vary; however, by checking learner group “Social & Behavioral Research Investigators” in Question 1, the minimal required “Basic Human Subjects-Social & Behavioral Focus” training course will be added to your course list.  Click here for more information about other training requirements.
  • Be sure to validate your account by accessing the link sent to the registered email account and logging in with your user name and password.
  1. After the registration process is complete.  Click on the blue link to access the course.

Link a CITI Account to Swarthmore CITI Courses

If you are an external investigator who already has a CITI account, but would like to affiliate with the Swarthmore College courses, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).
  2. Log in as you would at your other institution.
  3. Select "Click here to affiliate with another institution".
  4. Type in "Swarthmore College".
  5. Follow through the registration process, by answering all the required questions, but consider the following notes:
  • Provide a second email address in case recovery is necessary.
  • Users may choose to receive Continuing Education or to receive CITI research surveys (this is not required).
  • When selecting the curriculum, the course you are required to complete may vary; however, by checking learner group “Social & Behavioral Research Investigators” in Question 1, the minimal required “Basic Human Subjects-Social & Behavioral Focus” training course will be added to your course list.  Click here for more information about other training requirements.
  1. Select the course you intend to complete and complete any modules, if any, which were not yet completed at your prior institution and are required by Swarthmore College.

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