First detailed U.S. scientific integrity draft policies get mixed responses

Keep working on it. That’s the reaction of U.S. science watchdog groups to the first attempts by federal health agencies to flesh out a promise by President Joe Biden to restore trust in government by ensuring that government scientists are free to do their jobs without political meddling. One week after taking office in January 2021, Biden ordered a review of agency policies on scientific integrity , and 2 years later the White House issued guidelines for agencies to follow in revising existing policies. In July, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was first across the line with a 22-page draft policy . Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of HHS, did likewise . But advocacy groups, while praising portions of the draft policies, worry they could limit the ability of scientists to speak openly about federal actions on such sensitive topics as fetal tissue research and climate change. The draft policies, part of a wider initiative to strengthen scientific integrity protections across federal agencies, are “praiseworthy” in some ways and “problematic” in others, says Anita Desikan, a senior analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Liz Borkowski of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health adds that, without specific penalties in place, political appointees will feel free to violate the policies “with impunity.” A coalition of 1...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news