The Home Office has taken an important step to ensure the integrity of the science that underpins all decision-making at the Home Office with a new and updated Scientific Integrity Policy.
As part of Secretary Deb Haaland’s commitment to “Unleash Science,” the updated Scientific Integrity Policy will focus on science, including how it benefits people, wildlife, and ecosystems across the country. Its purpose is to increase the American public’s understanding of the impact and value of the United States. world. This includes increasing the impact and value of Indigenous knowledge on public land management and other decisions.
This update will update the department’s manual on how scientific information is obtained, processed, and used within the department and how agency scientists can conduct their research without interference from political or special interests. We have codified the requirements within. The updated policy also establishes expectations for how scientific and academic information considered in decision-making will be processed and used, ensuring that the information is robust, of the highest quality, and based on rigorous scientific research. guaranteed to be the result of a professional and academic process. The new directive also codifies existing requirements to ensure the recruitment and retention of scientists on a merit-based basis and includes updated procedures for both raising and investigating concerns about scientific integrity. I am.
This new guidance makes one thing clear: information and data must be reliable. This policy will help the Department achieve that standard.
Reflecting the department’s unique role in putting science at the heart of its mission, this policy is one of the most far-reaching and comprehensive in government. It follows the publication of the National Science and Technology Council’s Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity Policy and Practice, which is based on a model for scientific integrity policy that has been widely adopted by other sectors and scientific institutions. I am. This is further reinforced by the department’s Scientific and Academic Code of Conduct, which communicates expectations to senior management, supervisors and scientists.
For more information about the Department’s commitment to scientific integrity, please visit the Department’s Scientific Integrity webpage.
