WASHINGTON, D.C. - On March 28, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) issued a new Scientific Integrity Policy to safeguard the quality and integrity of the Agency's scientific and scholarly activities. Spurred by a 2009 directive from President Obama and subsequent guidance from the White House, this policy articulates the principles regarding how scientific and scholarly activities are supported and carried out, and how research findings are used and disseminated.

Specifically, the policy outlines guiding principles for the entire Agency that will:

• Protect the scientific process from misconduct and from inappropriate influence;
• Promote access to scientific and technical information;
• Maintain a highly skilled technical and scientific staff;
• Convene and use federal advisory committees ethically and transparently; and,
• Ensure quality, methodological rigor, and ethical standards in all USAID-funded research activities.

Many of these principles already align with the high integrity that USAID staff maintain when conducting scholarly activities. The intention of this policy is to capture and employ these best practices throughout the Agency and introduce new ways that USAID can enhance the use of science for development.

"As the lead international development agency for the United States, science and technology play a vital role in USAID's efforts to effectively reduce poverty and improve lives around the world," said Dr. Alex Dehgan, Science and Technology Adviser to the Administrator. "As science and technology become increasingly important drivers of international development, the Agency's new policy provides critical safeguards for maintaining the quality and integrity of those activities that support innovations in development and help us change lives."

To read the policy, visit http://www.usaid.gov/scitech/integrity (pdf, 441kb)