Interior Dept. Updates Scientific Integrity Policy and Creates Handbook

"The Department of the Interior came out late yesterday with the 3.0 version of its scientific integrity policy, along with a new handbook that describes how the policy will be implemented. The new materials are simplified, streamlined, and more clear, bringing the department once again to the front of the pack in the Obama administration’s quest to create strong scientific integrity standards within federal agencies and departments. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is expected to speak about the new policy in a keynote address today before the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

DOI has been well ahead of the curve from the get go, devoting significant resources to establishing and then cementing scientific integrity commitments. DOI issued its first scientific integrity departmental order in September 2010, months before the White House Office of Science and Technology asked agencies to create their own scientific integrity plans. The departmental order was followed shortly by a scientific integrity and scholarly policy in January 2011, the document that was replaced this week.

In the time since, the department has gone well beyond what the White House asked for. While different DOI bureaus and services have embraced scientific integrity accountability to varying degrees, headquarters has demonstrated its commitment to creating strong and meaningful scientific integrity standards and building them into departmental culture."

Michael Halpern reports for the Union of Concerned Scientists' The Equation blog December 18, 2014.