H.R. 1106: Scientific Integrity Act

Most federal agencies that fund or conduct research already publish a scientific integrity policy. What they lack is a legal obligation to have one, or any statutory floor on what it must say. H.R. 1106 rewrites the scientific integrity section of the America COMPETES Act to supply both.

Every agency that funds, conducts, or oversees scientific research would have 90 days after enactment to adopt a policy and send it to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for approval. Within 30 days of approval, the policy goes on the agency's website and to Congress. An agency whose existing policy already meets the bar can certify that in writing instead of starting over.

The floor is specific. Nobody covered by the policy could suppress, alter, or delay a scientific finding without scientific merit, and nobody could pressure a colleague to censor one or retaliate when they refuse. Fraud, misrepresentation, and institutional barriers that block cooperation with outside scientists are barred too. Scientific conclusions could not rest on political considerations, and hiring for science jobs would have to turn primarily on expertise, credentials, and integrity.

The same policy has to protect the ordinary working life of a scientist: presenting at conferences, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, sitting on advisory boards, holding office in professional societies, and reviewing other people's papers. Agencies could still require a technical-accuracy review before findings go out, but only through a clear, consistent process written into the policy itself.

Enforcement gets a named owner. Each agency would appoint a Scientific Integrity Officer within 90 days, and that person must be a career employee with research expertise rather than a political appointee. The officer works with the agency's inspector general, runs the complaint process, and posts an annual public report counting complaints filed, appealed, and still pending, with an anonymized summary of how each was resolved.

Agencies get 180 days to build the complaint and appeal process and a training program. New covered employees would be trained within a month of starting. Grantees, collaborators, partners, and volunteers outside the agency would get their own route to report violations.

If anyone outside those channels overrules the officer on a violation, the agency must report the incident to the White House science office and Congress within 30 days. The science office would gather every agency's policies and reports in one public place and convene the officers each year. Agencies resubmit their policies for approval every five years, and GAO reviews implementation two years after enactment. The bill carries no appropriation; its cost is staff time, training, and reporting.