Research Policies & Procedures

University-wide policies

The following university-wide policies govern the research enterprise of OSU:

Proposal development policies
Project administration policies
Human subjects research protocols
Animal research protocols
Institutional Biosafety Committee
Conflict of Interest
Effort Certification
Intellectual property

College-specific procedures

Additional College of Public Health procedures, along with details on how the College implements some university-wide policies, are outlined below:

 

Project Routing
The Ohio State University Research Foundation is the only authorized legal applicant for sponsored research. All proposals and submissions, including non-binding Letters of Intent (LOI), for sponsored program research must be routed through the CPH Office of Research and the Research Foundation.

Under a limited set of circumstances, contracts for non-research sponsored projects can be alternatively routed through OSU Legal Affairs. A non-research contract may be routed through Legal Affairs if it proposes work that does not involve areas of regulatory oversight (such as human subjects), does not involve cost sharing, and does not have certain specified reporting requirements. A copy of the CPH Proposal Routing worksheet with complete routing decision criteria and required supporting documents can be found at T:\Office of Research\Office of Research General\Project Routing\Request for CPH contract.doc on the college's internal shared drive.

CPH faculty are reminded to never sign any funding offer or contract. Faculty are not authorized to accept award offers. Only designated persons can sign on behalf of the University or College.

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Eligibility to Serve as Principal Investigator
Under current university policy, PI status is automatically conferred for salaried, regular faculty members having at least a 50 percent appointment in one of the following titles:

  1. professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor
  2. research professor, research associate professor, research assistant professor

Persons holding other titles within the College of Public Health are generally not eligible for PI status. Any exceptions to the university policy must be granted in writing by the University Senior Associate Vice President for Research. The College of Public Health considers exception requests on a case-by-case basis. Individuals desiring PI status should submit a written request with concurrence of their chair or supervisor. Approval from the Dean (or Associate Dean) of the College of Public Health and a letter of support from the Dean (or Associate Dean) is required before the request can be forwarded to the Senior Associate Vice President for Research. Additional details on the University's policy on PI status can be found at http://rf.osu.edu/development/piqualifications.cfm.

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Authorization to Seek Off-Campus Funding
The ePA-005 is the internal University routing and approval document that is required for all sponsored project proposals and can be found at https://rf.osu.edu/secure/ePA-005/. This form documents administrative, budgetary, and compliance information of the proposal, provides chairs and deans with a summary of this information and, when approved, authorizes the Research Foundation to submit the proposal to an external sponsor.

The grants staff in the CPH Office of Research will create this routing form on behalf of the PI once the proposal budget and other administrative details have been finalized. All participating investigators, their departments/chairs and colleges/deans are required to sign-off on this form. Approval of the ePA-005 carries with it significant responsibilities. By signing the form, the investigator(s):

  1. certify the statements included in the proposal are true, complete and accurate and that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may be cause for criminal, civil, or administrative penalties
  2. accept responsibility for the scientific conduct of the project and to provide the required progress reports if a grant is awarded as a result of this application.
  3. promise to perform the work in accordance with University and Sponsor policies and procedures

Likewise, administrative signers:

  1. acknowledge agreement with the information listed on the ePA-005 and in the proposal
  2. certify that the proposed work is consistent with the College's mission and scope, and the obligation and commitments described are acceptable
  3. authorize the transfer of over-expenditures and disallowed costs to their unit in accordance with the expenditure allocation on the form

This review and approval process requires thoughtful consideration, since with approval the College agrees that the application is consistent with academic goals, is fiscally sound, and that space and other resources will be available as promised. Therefore, if errors or other unacceptable issues are identified, the ePA-005 may be disapproved which may delay the proposal's submission. Because of the number of persons required to review this form, the ePA-005 should be submitted well before the proposal due date to ensure adequate time for all necessary approvals and signatures.

When CPH faculty are collaborating on a proposal with OSU faculty in other colleges, they must be named as an investigator on the resulting ePA-005. If there are questions or issues related to the ePA-005, please consult with CPH Office of Research staff.

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Award and Expenditure Credit
An important part of the ePA-005 is the allocation of award and expenditure credit. Award allocation is used to allocate or divide award credit between departments when more than one department is involved. The university uses award allocation as a metric to evaluate the productiveness of the research enterprise across departments and colleges.

Expenditure allocation indicates how expenditures and F&A costs are allocated across departments if more than one department is involved. The percentage listed for each department represents the proportion of that department's resources and facilities used in the project.

The College of Public Health expects and requires that all faculty involved in a sponsored project be listed on the ePA-005 and receive an appropriate portion of the award and expenditure credit commensurate with their degree of involvement/responsibility in the proposed project. Tenure-initiating organizations for PIs and Co-Investigators must be listed even if the Expenditure Credit allocations are 0%.

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Cost sharing
Cost sharing (also known as matching) occurs when some part of the cost of a sponsored project is paid by a source other than the sponsor. Sometimes a sponsor requires cost sharing; at other times the sponsor guidelines state that cost sharing is desirable but not required. If cost sharing is offered in any part of the proposal, it is a binding commitment that must be met and documented.

The College's general policy is avoid cost sharing in proposals unless it is required or specifically requested by the sponsor. All forms of cost sharing - whether in-kind salary contributions or other matching funds- require the prior approval of the College.

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Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A, Indirects or Overhead)
F&A costs are those costs associated with our infrastructure that support our research enterprise - buildings and their maintenance, libraries, and college services such as grants management, human resources, information technology, etc.- that cannot be easily allocated to a specific project. These costs, however, are a real part of the cost of doing research. OSU's approved institutional F&A rates are negotiated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Although the Research Foundation administers the billing and receipt of research funding, all of the F&A reimbursement is distributed back to the University on an annual basis.

It is important that F&A costs be recovered to the maximum extent possible. Investigators should submit proposals that provide for full indirect cost recovery unless sponsor guidelines dictate a lesser rate. The College will consider accepting a lower rate from a sponsor if that rate is documented and applied to all applicants.

If the sponsor is non-federal and does not allow for full indirect cost recovery, costs normally charged as F&A costs may be charged directly if not prohibited by sponsor policy. Please work closely with Office of Research staff if you are considering applying for a program that does not allow full indirect cost recovery.

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Human Subjects
All research that utilizes any data collected on or from human subjects requires Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from the Office for Responsible Research Practices (ORRP) before research can begin. This includes secondary data analyses and other research that may fall into the exempt category. At a minimum, a written inquiry must be made to ORRP to request an independent determination on whether the work constitutes human subjects research and whether a full, expedited, or exempt application would be required.

The Office of Responsible Research Practices has developed an Investigator Guide to help researchers navigate the various requirements for conducting human subjects research at OSU which is online at http://orrp.osu.edu/irb/guidance. Forms for IRB approval, including requests for exemption and administrative review, are available at http://orrp.osu.edu/irb/.

For research involving human subjects, all key personnel must have received education on the protection of human research subjects. Individuals can complete the training by using a web-based training program is available at http://www.citiprogram.org/. Recertification must be completed every 3 years.

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Research With Animals
Forms and directions to secure approval for research with animals also are available through the Office of Responsible Research Practices.  Each individual involved in research with animals must complete the Animal Usage Orientation Course (either classroom or online), the Occupational Health and Safety Training Course (online only), and an Occupational Health Risk Assessment. Information regarding the use of animals is available on Web at http://orrp.osu.edu/iacuc/.

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Policy Against Accepting Tobacco Money for Research
The Ohio State University College of Public Health will not accept funds directly from the tobacco industry. Further, any auxiliary, joint or adjunct faculty member that accepts such funding will immediately forfeit their faculty appointment in the College of Public Health. The full policy can be found here.

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