How do I register for a CITI account and access trainings?
For the trainings, please make sure you are registered with a free CITI account that is affiliated with USC. In order to avoid the paywall, go to www.citiprogram.org and click ‘Register’ in the far right-hand side.
Beneath that, type “University of Southern California” into the “Select Your Organization Affiliation” section. Do not select the option that includes (SSO) at the end.
Check the boxes as they appear and then click the “Create Account” button on the left hand side. Again, avoid the SSO-specified option.
This should set you up with a free USC-affiliated account. The option should be accessible from there.
If you need to add a course to your account, from your main log-in page, scroll down to your affiliations. Next to University of Southern California, click the ‘View Courses’ button.
On the new page, scroll down to the bottom of the page. In the grey box at the bottom, click the ‘Add Courses’ option.
At the top of the page, CITI will ask you if you wish to take the course “COVID-19 Back to Campus (Fall 2020).” This course is optional; you do not have to select ‘Yes’ if you do not wish to take it.
Under Question #2, select which trainings are appropriate. The most commonly selected are Human Subjects Research, Good Clinical Practice and Research HIPAA.
If you selected Human Subjects Research in Question #2, proceed to Question #3 and select your Human Subjects Research training by campus. There is an option to take the Human Subjects training in Spanish, for either campus, in this box.
If you selected Good Clinical Practice in Question #2, proceed to Question #4 and select your Good Clinical Practice based on type of research and/or campus.
Click ‘Submit,’ and you will be done adding courses.
What trainings are required?
You will be required to take the Human Research Subjects training if you are being added to an IRB protocol. We offer a “Biomedical” and “Social/Behavioral” option. Please select the option that best characterizes the nature of the research you will be doing.
Good Clinical Practice course is required only if you are doing research for a clinical trial. Please select the option that is most appropriate for your research.
Research HIPAA is required only if you are doing research with highly sensitive patient information. This course is separate from the Office of Compliance HIPAA course, and we are happy to look at CITI Research HIPAA certificates from other institutions to determine if they are eligible to transfer.
For more information please view the Education and Certification page on the HRPP website.
Any questions about the above can be sent to citi@usc.edu for any further clarification.
What if I already have certification from an outside institution?
Requests to transfer GCP and/or Human Subjects training certifications from outside Institutions or vendors will be evaluated to determine that course content is equivalent to USC CITI course requirements prior to being accepted.
A copy of the certification and transcript must be emailed to citi@usc.edu.
What if I completed my certification, but it doesn’t show on my iStar profile?
Please send a copy of your completed Human subjects certifications to citi@usc.edu or istar@usc.edu and request to have it be uploaded to your iStar profile.
I received a notice from iStar indicating my certificate is about to expire, what do I do?
If you received a notice from iStar indicating your certificate is about to expire, you must re-certify. The human subjects education policy is that investigators/personnel must complete training every 3 years.
I need to complete GCP training and the human subjects “refresher” course, must I take both?
Yes. GCP is a separate requirement from human subjects training. GCP training and human subjects education must be taken every three years. Both courses are available at www.citiprogram.org
A refresher course becomes available in CITI 90 days before the three year certificate expires.
Do I need to take Human Subjects Protections Training if a project is “exempt”?
Yes, even if a project is exempt, study personnel are still required to take Human Subjects Protections Training.
If a project was determined to be “not human subjects research”, do I need to take Human Subjects Protections Training?
No. If a project was determined to be “not human subjects research” (NHSR) (e.g., this applies whether coded specimen/data or not meeting the federal definition) study personnel do not need to take the Human Subjects training on CITI.
If I already completed HIPAA Training, do I need to take Human Subjects Protections Training?
Yes, you must complete Human Subjects Protections Training even if you completed HIPAA Training.
Do I need to take Human Subjects Protections Training for amendments to a previously approved IRB application?
Amendments for adding “key personnel” on a study require that the added individual(s) complete CITI before the amendment is approved.
