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Unburden American scienceIn Section Editorial
Science is one of the greatest engines of health, prosperity, and security across the world. Yet, in the United States, the enterprise is now under tremendous stress from an array of pressures, including threats to federal support for both the direct and indirect costs of research. But funding instability is not the only issue. One major problem is that regulatory and policy requirements force researchers to spend nearly half of their research time on paperwork associated with receiving federal grants and contracts, not on discovery. The situation is made worse when research institutions themselves layer on additional requirements to ensure compliance. The administrative tasks are unnecessarily complex, duplicative, and, in some cases, contradictory. They also waste taxpayer dollars intended for scientific discovery and innovation. Given the current political focus on streamlining federal regulations, there is a clear opportunity to finally solve this burdensome problem.
Surveys by the Federal Demonstration Partnership have shown that for nearly two decades, American researchers typically have spent over 40% of their research time on administrative and regulatory tasks, such as required training or conflict of interest forms. These requirements have been put in place over time to ensure that research is conducted at the highest levels of integrity, accountability, and transparency. But as the number of federal science funding agencies increased, and as science evolved to merit more areas of oversight, there has been an uncoordinated expansion of administrative red tape that has slowed the pace of research.
The administrative load has been analyzed extensively, and there is no dearth of suggestions on how to decrease it, including from the National Science Board, the Council on Government Relations, the Government Accountability Office, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies). Their reports include specific recommendations for fixing the problems, yet there has been relatively little progress over the past 20 years. Although there has been some alignment of policies and procedures across different funding agencies, attempts to substantially simplify administrative requirements have been sporadic and fleeting.
Why has there been so little progress? A major challenge has been the absence of federal leadership and coordination across the funding agencies. It is often unclear who has the authority to lead and implement system-wide changes. Each science agency (there are now over 20 of them) has developed rules and regulations that reflect its own mission. Without strong incentives or mechanisms to establish common methods, agencies have little reason to align their policies. Progress also has been hampered by the perception that the science supported by each agency is so specialized that it requires tailored policies and rules. As well, recommendations proposed so far simply may not have resonated with agency leaders.
Last week, the National Academies released a report, Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies: Optimizing American Science, that describes a different approach to the problem. It proposes three cross-cutting principles: harmonizing regulations and reporting requirements across agencies; adjusting the intensity of regulations to the level of risk to individuals or society; and using technology to simplify compliance. Rather than making specific recommendations about what should be done to solve the problems in each of these domains—such as conflicts of interest, misconduct in science, or research security—the report offers alternative routes to reducing the burden in each area and describes the pros and cons of each approach. This provides flexibility for achieving efficiency and transparency that will hopefully be attractive to multiple agencies. The report also offers alternative ways to coordinate efforts across agencies, such as through the creation of a federal research policy board, one of the earlier recommendations from the National Academies.
The new National Academies report comes at a time when both the Trump administration and Congress are proposing numerous changes with the purported goals of making science more accountable and efficient. To ensure these changes serve the research enterprise well, the scientific community must contribute its own ideas to accomplish the same goals. The administrative burden on America’s researchers is badly in need of reform. Indeed, both federal and state governments claim that streamlining regulations to decrease waste, enhance accountability, and promote innovation is a priority. The United States cannot waste any more time and resources if it is to maintain a robust scientific enterprise that is the equal of any in the world.
10.1126/science.aec0488
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