NASEM Releases Report on Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies
The Board on Higher Education and Workforce (BHEW) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a report, Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies: Optimizing American Science. The report praises the success of the U.S. scientific research enterprise while acknowledging that, as science has become more applicable and useful across varying disciplines, there has been a dramatic increase in federal oversight. It cites estimates that U.S. academic researchers today spend more than 40 percent of their research time on administrative and regulatory compliance. While federal regulations on scientific work can ensure research excellence, the current regulatory system can hinder research and place bureaucratic burdens on scientists, says the report.
The Committee looked at seven areas of research regulations with an eye toward harmonization across federal agencies and other sectors. The seven areas addressed in the report include:
- Grant proposals and management
- Research misconduct
- Financial conflicts of interest in research
- Protecting research assets (which includes research security, export controls, and cybersecurity and data management)
- Research involving biological agents
- Human subjects research
- Research using nonhuman animal
For each area, NASEM proposes several solutions to address flaws in the current oversight system. Further, unlike past Academies reports on these topics—of which there have been many—this report does not make specific recommendations designed to tackle these challenges. Instead, the report offers a menu of options that can be considered for reducing administrative burden, with pros and cons discussed for each. These solutions envision a more efficient and tailored regulatory system on the U.S. scientific enterprise.
NASEM hosted a webinar on the report that can be watched here.
This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Anne Tighe.