Government Legislation, Guidance, and Reports

Please read below for more information on research security efforts over the last several years. Research Integrity and Compliance is closely following research security developments and legislation, and will update this page as new guidance is released. Send questions to ric@vanderbilt.edu.

  • Government Legislation and Guidance
    • NSDD-189
      National Security Decision Directive 189 is a 1985 directive that defines fundamental research as a national policy. It is often referenced in research security documents to cite the importance and need for open research.
    • NSPM-33
      National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) is a January 2021 presidential memorandum issued under the Trump Administration and subsequently endorsed by the Biden Administration in August 2021. It is one of the main directives organizing research security today.
    • NSPM-33 Updated Guidelines for Research Security Programs
      The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released final guidelines in July 2024 for implementing the research security requirements outlined in NSPM-33.
    • CHIPS and Science Act
      The CHIPS and Science Act (often referred to as CHIPS) is bipartisan piece of legislation meant to spur the growth of a domestic semiconductor industry. It contains a number of provisions regarding research security.
  • Government Reports
    • Fundamental Research Security 2019 (JASON)
      This unclassified report was commissioned by the National Science Foundation and addresses how to balance openness and security in the US research ecosystem. It is a useful place to start to understand the research security efforts of the past few years.
    • Research Program on Research Security 2023 (JASON)
      NSF commissioned a second unclassified report addressing questions about a potential research program on research security, which is currently under development.
    • Safeguarding International Science 2023 (NIST)
      The National Institute of Standards of Technology provided guidelines to help organizations mitigate research security related risks and to implement recommendations stemming form NSPM-33.
    • Safeguarding the Research Enterprise 2024 (JASON)
      NSF commissioned a third report from JASON that addresses the how research security has changed since the 2019 report as well as best practices for identifying and securing sensitive research.
  • Guidance at Federal Funding Agencies

    National Science Foundation

    • NSF Research Security Homepage
      Research Security efforts are currently being led by the NSF’s Office of the Chief of Research Security Strategy and Policy (OCRSSP). As a result, the NSF Research Security website contains a number of useful resources to understand research security efforts.
    • Guidelines for Research Security Analytics
      NSF has developed a new data analytics tool called “NSF-77 Data Analytics Application Suite.” This tool allows NSF to compare information disclosed in proposals to publicly available databases like Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, the US Patent Office, and others. Read more at the above link.
    • Common Disclosure Forms
      NSF is the steward for the Common Disclosure forms, including a new Biographical Sketch form and a new Current and Pending (Other) Support Information form that is being adopted by federal funding agencies. You can find those forms and more information at the above link.

    National Institutes of Health

    • NIH Foreign Interference Homepage
      NIH maintains a page on foreign interference, which provides information on disclosing international collaborations, case studies of foreign interference, and other information about NIH’s approach to research security.
    • NIH Foreign Interference Data
      NIH publishes data on foreign interference cases at the agency at the above link.

    Department of Defense

    • Department of Defense Academic Research Security Homepage
      The Department of Defense has a page on Academic Research Security, which provides information and resources about DoDs approach to research security.
    • Department of Defense Risk Matrix
      In June 2023, the Department of Defense published a memorandum detailing its approach to risk based security reviews for proposals submitted to the agency. The decision matrix at the above link details prohibited factors, discouraged factors, and mitigation measures as outlined by the DOD.
  • International Research Security

    Please see below for research security efforts in the following countries: