News from National Science Foundation

Safeguarding Science toolkit launched to help researchers defend scientific integrity

The U.S. National Science Foundation joined federal and university partners to announce a unique collaboration between U.S. government and academic stakeholders to aid researchers facing a broad spectrum of risks to research integrity and security.

The Safeguarding Science toolkit was designed with the scientific community for the scientific community. It provides research stakeholders with a single location to access security best practices from across government and academia and to select tools tailored for their individual needs.

Developed by the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center in partnership with NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Transportation and its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Health and Human Services the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the American Association of Universities, the toolkit will promote a robust and resilient U.S. research ecosystem that emphasizes integrity, collaboration, openness and security, all of which facilitate innovation.

"NSF is pleased to collaborate with our federal agency partners to provide the research security sections in the new online Safeguarding Science toolkit," said NSF Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy Rebecca Keiser,. "By aligning that content with key areas of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33) Implementation Guidance, we can help the academic community better understand research security initiatives currently underway across the federal enterprise and the rationale for that guidance. We look forward to continuing to provide information and tools that will be helpful to the research community."

The Safeguarding Science online toolkit is designed for individuals and organizations in the U.S. scientific, academic and emerging-technology sectors who are seeking to develop programs to protect research, technology and personnel from theft, abuse, misuse or exploitation.

"The Safeguarding Science toolkit provides a framework for researchers to openly collaborate while establishing protections that keep theft, misuse and other threats at bay," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "This toolkit demonstrates NSF's commitment to partnership with the research community and U.S. government science and intelligence agencies to share information, best practices and tools to address risks and promote international collaboration to ensure a thriving research ecosystem."