How is the Impact of Responsible Conduct of Research Education Evaluated? A Review of Measures Used and a Content Analysis of Outcome Measures with Reported Validation Evidence

Education in Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) aims to foster good research practices. Little, however, is known about how educators measure the impact of their courses, which outcome measures are used and if and how they are validated. In this review, we systematically identify measures used to evaluate RCR education and assess if and how they have been validated. We also analyse a selected subset of these measures. Specifically, those that include supporting evidence of validity and focus on research practices, in order to identify which Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) concepts they address and which learning outcomes they are designed to assess. In total, 162 articles were included, of which 46 articles contained information about a measure described as ‘validated’. Measures from these articles (and four additional measures suggested by experts) were assessed on accessibility, evidence of validation, and content related to research practice, resulting in 15 unique outcome measures with supporting validation evidence. All contained items covering topics which we categorised as pertaining to ‘research integrity’, whereas a smaller selection contained items covering topics which we categorised as pertaining to ‘research ethics’. Whilst all 15 reported at least some form of reliability or validity evidence, only 3 met what we describe as ‘strong’ validation evidence. Our review revealed that the majority of RCR education evaluations in the published literature have not used measures related to research conduct with reported validation evidence. The comprehensive overview we provide can offer guidance for educators and researchers to select, or further develop measures aligned with core RCR competencies and targeted learning outcomes.