Developing a federal policy on research misconduct

Since April 1996, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), in co llaboration with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President, has been leading the development of a go vernment-wide Federal policy for research misconduct. The author is a Senio r Policy Analyst in the Office of Science and Technology Policy and a parti cipant in this process. This paper places the NSTC/OSTP effort in historica l context, outlines the process by which the policy will be finalized, and discusses the principal issues raised during the policy development process .