A. GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH CONTRACT RELATIONS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND UNIVERSITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00985R000200010001-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 13, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REQ

Approved For lease 2005/03/24 CIA=E2DP86 ar98 ,000200010001-9
GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES FOR
FOREIGN AREA RESEARCH
Approved For Release 2005/03/24: CIA-RDP86B00985R000200010001-9
 Approved
media serves the greatest general good,
A. GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH CONTRACT
RELATIONS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT
AND UNIVERSITY
Al. The Government has the re-
sprnsihiiity for avoiding actions
that would call into question the
integrity of American academic
institutiort.s as centers of in-
dep,'nden; teaching and re-
search.
A large portion of government-sup-
ported contract research carried out by
American universities is long-range, un-
classified and if academic interest to the
faculties concerned: it poses no more
serious challenges to academic integrity
than do public and private research
grants. The issues of acknowledgment
and classification may pose problems
and are dealt with below in paragraphs
A2 and A3. In addition, there are
certain spec.alized research needs-
sometimes in'.oiving foreign sensitivities
-for which Government agencies
should continue to use or develop their
own capatilitics or those of non-aca-
demic institutions in order, among other
things, to avoid possible embarrassment
to academic research personnel and
institutions.
A2. The fact of Government re-
search support should always
be acknowledged by sponsor,
university, and researcher.
Covert support to institutions of
higher education is contrary to national
policy,* on the broad and vital prin-
ciple that it runs contrary to the spirit
of our institutions, and on the pragmatic
basis that it may reduce the reliability
and credibility of the research project's
conclusions and eventually result in
damage to the reputation of our schol-
arly community.
A3. Government-.supported contract
research should in process and
results ideally be unclassified,
but the practical needs of the
nation in the modern world may
require that some portion be
subject to classification; the
balance between making work
" As stated in the report of the com-
mittee chaired by Under Secretary of
State Katzerbach which was accepted
by the President on March 29. 1967.
See The Department of State Bulletin,
April 24, 1967, p. 665.
public or classified should in-
cline whenever possible toward
making it public.
The free flow of ideas is basic to our
system of democracy and to academic
freedom. There are other reasons why
the government should make generally
available the results of its contract re-
search: to do so not only results in the
advancement of learning and public
enlightenment, but also subjects gov-
ernment-supported research to the
closest possible professional scrutiny.
Nevertheless. other responsibilities of
the government sometimes must pre-
vail. Material which cannot be declas-
sified must sometimes he used in re-
search required for important purposes.
There are other reasons why the use of
confidential limitations is as legitimate
a practice in the government as it is
in the private sector, where the sub-
stance of information is sometimes
withheld even when its existence is
known. In exploring alternative courses
of action, the government often needs
research-based analysis and reflection
which, if made public, could produce
serious misunderstandings and misap-
prehensions abroad about U.S. inten-
tions. To abandon restrictions of these
sorts altogether would impose serious
limitations on the agencies' use of con-
tract research.
However, to the maximum extent
feasible, agencies should design projects
in such ways that only those portions
requiring restrictive treatment are so
treated. If classification is necessary,
the university is its own judge of
whether or not it wishes to contract
for research in this category. In any
case, the researcher should always be
notified in advance of entering into the
contract if the project is to be classified
or if the results will need to undergo
final review for possible security classi-
fication or administrative control,
A4. As a general rule, agencies
should encourage open publica-
tion of contract research results.
Subject to the ordinary canons of
confidentiality and good taste which per-
tain in responsible privately-supported
academic research, and subject to para-
graph 3 above, open publication of re-
search results in government or private
Il fk 0 aid gibroad. The best
guaran ee a government-supported
research will be of high quality is to
have its results exposed to peer-group
judgment; open publication is the most
effective means for this purpose. To
assure maximum feasible publication of
research results and to minimize the
risk that research publications will be
misconstrued as statements or indicators
of public policy, government agencies
should give careful attention to the
language and places in which their sup-
port is acknowledged and their respon-
sibility for accuracy, findings, interpre-
tations, and conclusions asserted or
disclaimed. The researcher should be
given a clear understanding of the
agency's position on these matters be-
fore entering into the contract.
A5. Government agencies that con-
tract with university researchers
should consider designing their
projects so as to advance know-
ledge as well as to meet the im-
mediate needs of policy or ac-
tion.
Few agencies have as their central
mission the advancement of knowledge
for its own sake or for its general
utility. Most agencies that contract for
research look to research-and right-
fully so-for assistance in carrying out
specific missions or tasks in policy or
action, in short, for applications of
scholarly knowledge. It is therefore
often assumed that these agencies con-
sume a tailored product and do not
contribute to the nation's intellectual
capital. Consumers they certainly are;
however scholars, as they work on
applied problems, may also collect new
data and gain new insights into
the theoretical and methodological
strengths and weaknesses of their
scholarly fields; thus they generate as
well as apply scholarly knowledge.
Agencies should entertain research pro-
posals and encourage research designs
which permit such contributions to basic
knowledge to the maximum degree con-
sistent with the project's sensitivity and
mission-related purpose.
A6. The government agency has the
obligc'ion of informing the po-
tential researcher of the needs
which the research should help
meet, of any special conditions
associated with the research
contract, and generally of the
agency's expectations concern-
ing the research and the re-
searcher.
The researcher has a right to prior
knowledge of the use to which the
agency expects to put research even
though, as in the case of privately-
supported research, no assurances can
be given that it will in fact be used or
that other uses will not also be made of
it, by either the supporting agency or
others.
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ernment agency than failure to establish highest possible quality in its
mutual understanding in advance con-
cerning a research project
The b
t
.
es
research designs are often those that
emerge from extensive discussion be-
tween potential contractor and sup-
porting agency; if elements of the design
cannot or should not be completed
until the project is under way, this
prospect should be explicitly acknowl-
edged and provided for.
As scholars have much to contribute
in assessing the quality of research de-
signs and the capabilities of colleagues,
their advice should be sought at key
stages in the formulation of projects.
Advice'-can be obtained through con-
sultants, advisory panels, independent
review, or utilization of staff scientists.
B. GUIDELINES FOR THE CONDUCT OF
FOREIGN AREA RESEARCH UNDER
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT
Bl. The government should take
special steps to ensure that the
parties with which it contracts
have highest qualifications for
carrying out research overseas.
Some of the points to be considered
in assessing qualifications are profes-
sional competence, area experience, lan-
guage competence, and personal alert-
ness to problems of foreign sensitivity.
Scholars in the same field or discipline
are usually in the best position to judge
the qualifications of a given researcher.
Whenever feasible, consultation with
academic experts should be a part of
the process of contracting for foreign
area research.
B2. The government should work to
avert or minimize adverse for-
eign reactions to its contract
research programs conducted
overseas.
All other things being equal, govern-
ment-supported projects are more likely
than private ones to be misinterpreted
by both government and nongovernmen!
institutions in foreign countries. Spon-
soring agencies should keep in mind
that ordinarily research supported by
government will be held abroad to have
a very practical purpose-often a pur-
pose more immediate and direct than
the agency intended, or even imagined.
Thus, some combinations of topic,
place, time, and agency support result
in sensitivity so great as to make pur-
suit of some research projects actually
harmful. While the existing procedures
for review of government-supported
foreign area research projects in the
social and behavioral sciences have
clarified and alleviated many of the
problems, the supporting agency should
always be on the watch to ensure that
its research projects do not adversely
affect either U.S. foreign relations or
the position of the private American
scholar.
B3. When a project involves re-
search abroad it is particularly
important that both the support-
ing agency and the researcher
openly acknowledge the aus-
pices and financing of research
projects.
(See paragraph A2 above.) One
source of difficulty for the scholar over-
seas is the unfounded suspicion that all
American researchers are covertly sup-
ported by the U.S. Government. A
policy of full disclosure of support will
help to eliminate the suspicion of all
American research-whether private or
government, classified or unclassified-
and will allow that which is supported
by the government to be judged on its
own merits. If the research is of such
a character, as in opinion sampling,
that the objectivity of its research
techniques is substantially destroyed
when respondents know of the project's
auspices, then it is doubly important
that either the host government or col-
laborating local researchers, or both,
be fully informed about the nature of
the project.
B4. The government should under
certain circumstances ascertain
that the research is acceptable
to the host government.
In most cases the open acknowledge-
ment of auspices and financing discussed
in paragraph B3 is sufficient to satisfy
the interest of the host government in
the research. In some cases it is de-
sirable to take specific steps to inform
the host government. For example,
when the U.S. Government supports a
classified research project involving sub-
stantial field work abroad by scholars
associated with American universities,
sufficient information about the project
should be communicated to the host
government to convey a true picture of
the character and purpose of the proj-
ect. Similar steps may often be desirable
deal with very sensitive matters or easily
lend themselves to misunderstanding
and misrepresentation.
B5. The government should encour-
age cooperation with foreign
scholars in its contract research
programs.
Cooperation with local scholars not
only adds valuable viewpoints to a
foreign area research project, but also
goes far to remove antagonisms and
suspicions. This cooperation must, in
large part, be the responsibility of the
American scholars who carry on the
projects, but the government should,
where legislation permits, look favor-
ably upon research proposals that con-
tain provisions for cooperative ventures
and should otherwise seek to facilitate
and encourage these ventures within the
limits imposed by local resources and
needs. The supporting agency should
encourage and assist American re-
searchers to distribute to those foreign
colleagues who have cooperated in the
research copies of open publications
arising from the project. The support-
ing agency should also consider distribu-
tion of such publications to other in-
terested persons and institutions in the
host country, either directly through ap-
propriate sections of the U.S. Embassy
or by submitting copies to the FAR
Secretariat for transmittal to the Em-
bassy.
B6. Government agencies should
continue to coordinate their for-
eign area research programs to
eliminate duplication and over-
loading of any one geographic
area.
Agencies planning projects will con-
tinue to make use of the various FAR
facilities for information exchange and
consultation in order to ascertain
whether similar projects have already
been completed or are underway and
in order to coordinate with other agency
plans where feasible. Since the pro-
liferation of American researchers over-
seas has been one source of irritation,
government agencies should continue
to ensure that their programs do not
arouse foreign sensitivities by concen-
trating too many researchers and re-
search projects in any one overseas
area.
B7. Government agencies should
collaborate with academic asso-
ciations on problems of foreign
area research.
Professional scholarly associations,
both American and international, and
especially those related to specific areas,
have much experience with the prob-
lems of research abroad, and they have
an interest like that of the government
in ensuring that research relationships
across national boundaries flow smooth-
ly. Government agencies, through such
mechanisms as the FAR, should con-
sult with these associations on the
problems involved to arrive at mutually
agreeable procedures and solutions.
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