USC Policies and Resources

Ensuring compliance with federal and state laws, regulations, institutional policies, and Good Clinical Practices (GCP) is of utmost importance. There are established guidelines to foster a culture of safety and manage risks for the USC Campuses and the surrounding community. These guidelines cover various aspects such as the review of human subjects and animal research, promoting ethical conduct in research, and reporting instances of misconduct.

• USC TARA
  • TARA is USC’s Total Access for Research Administration system, supporting management of research awards, proposals, core laboratories and regulatory protocols.
• Office of Culture, Ethics, and Compliance
  • The Office of Culture, Ethics and Compliance Research Lifecycle Compliance Guidance one-sheet library. Each one-sheet provides an overview of the most important compliance requirements to keep in mind by topic, links to relevant university resources where additional information can be found, and key contacts to reach out to in the event you have further questions. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to OCEC at compliance@usc.edu, and if you have suggestions for additional one-sheet topics, we encourage you to submit your idea via the Research Compliance Suggestion Box.
• USC Department of Contracts and Grants (DCG)
  • The USC Department of Contracts and Grants (DCG) supports USC’s investigators from proposal development to award closeout, ensuring that our grants and contracts are consistent with university standards for academic freedom, research ethics and fiscal responsibility.
• Office of Financial Analysis
  • The USC Office of Financial Analysis coordinates and manages the University’s response to government-required audits and government audits of externally sponsored research projects, oversees the University’s recharge centers, including federal compliance and creation of new recharge centers, oversees effort certification reporting, and manages review of exceptions that allow certain telecommunication expenses on sponsored projects to be charged as direct costs.
• USC Sponsored Projects Accounting
  • The USC Office of Sponsored Projects Accounting oversees the post-award financial administration of sponsored research for the university.
• USC Office of Research
  • The mission of the Office of Research at the University of Southern California is to nurture and promote ethical and rigorous research, scholarship, creativity, and innovation to benefit society.
• Guide to Research at USC (Winter 2024)
  • A comprehensive reference tool that highlights many important USC policies and procedures related to sponsored projects.