The document follows heightened attention in recent years on protecting federal science and scientists from political manipulation. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Biden administration has issued a document designed to serve “a roadmap that will help strengthen scientific integrity policies and practices across the federal government.”
The Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice “draws from extensive input from federal agencies, as well as from across sectors, including academia, the scientific community, public interest groups, and industry” and an assessment of such policies issued a year ago by an administration task force, according to a White House announcement.
Key elements include (in its words): a consistent definition of scientific integrity for all federal agencies; a model scientific integrity policy to guide agencies as they build and update their policies; and a set of tools to help agencies regularly assess and improve their policies and practices.
It requires all agencies to designate a scientific integrity official while those that fund, conduct, or oversee research must designate a chief science officer.
The document follows heightened attention in recent years on protecting federal science and scientists from political manipulation. For example, the GAO last year recommended strengthening such policies at HHS, after finding that subagencies it reviewed “do not have procedures that define political interference in scientific decision-making or describe how it should be reported and addressed.”
Similarly, the Congressional Research Service last year reported that despite several sets of prior guidance there has been no uniform definition of scientific integrity across the federal government and that “more work is needed to create and maintain a culture of scientific integrity” in federal agencies.
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