Earlier this year the GAO found that agencies including the CDC, FDA and NIH “lacked well-defined procedures for reporting or addressing political interference in scientific decision-making. Image: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffDespite several sets of guidance in recent years, there still is “no uniform definition of scientific integrity across the federal government,” the Congressional Research Service has said, adding that the latest review of those policies concluded that “more work is needed to create and maintain a culture of scientific integrity” in federal agencies.
That guidance included a 2010 memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy telling agencies to develop and carry out such policies and a 2021 White House memo requiring a process for reporting, investigating, and appealing allegations of deviations from those policies.
“There is broad agreement among policymakers and the scientific and engineering community about ensuring the integrity of the conduct, communication, and management of R&D, and its use in policy development and decision making. However, recently, some policymakers and others have alleged that presidential administrations of both parties have violated the principles of scientific integrity,” a report said.
It said such assertions include weighting the membership of federal advisory committees toward a viewpoint or constituency, targeting individual scientists for harassment or adverse actions, appointing agency officials with significant conflicts of interest or antagonistic views toward an agency’s mission or neutrality to science, improperly editing scientific documents, and using the budget process to impede the implementation or formulation of science-based policies.
It noted that earlier this year the GAO found that agencies including the CDC, FDA and NIH “lacked well-defined procedures for reporting or addressing political interference in scientific decision-making.”
It said that issues for Congress include “how agencies report and address alleged violations, in addition to, interagency coordination of scientific integrity policies, and the designation of scientific integrity officers, among others.”
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