University Increases Research Oversight

Beginning Oct. 15, all Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) academic appointees will be required to fill out an online form stating that they comply with FAS research policies, FAS Dean for Research and Information Technology Paul Martin said yesterday.

The new requirement stems from increasing concerns about potential lawsuits due to conflicts of interest.

“There was no particular incident that triggered it, but there was a growing concern that we be sure that everybody know about [the policies],” Martin said. He said the concerns were especially great in the field of health research, where professors often have financial interests in the outcome of their research as well as clinical practices that can profit from research findings.

The online form does not represent a change in FAS policy, which regulates the extent of professors’ financial involvement in their research and the portion of time or effort that can be devoted to outside involvements. It simply requires that faculty and other academic appointments indicate that they are in compliance with the regulations.

The first page of the form asks two questions—whether members of FAS are involved in research that could be viewed as a conflict of interest, and whether they receive grant money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or Public Health Services (PHS), in which case federal law requires they disclose their financial interests. If the answer to both questions is no, no further questions are asked; otherwise, Faculty are required to disclose their external financial interests at greater length, as well as report “other activities...that may be perceived as presenting a conflict of interest according to published FAS and University Policies.”

The form, presented last month to the Faculty Council by the FAS Committee on Research Policy, implements a directive received from the Harvard Corporation’s Inspection Committee last spring to ensure that Faculty are familiar with research regulations, according to a letter Martin wrote to the Faculty Council last month.

The letter explained that although the policies are printed annually in the Gazette, this publication did not provide “sufficient assurance” that all academic appointees were familiar with the requirements.

Martin said the ease of use and little time required to fill out the online form were primary reasons the committee decide to distribute it electronically.

“The form is pretty painless,” he said. “It says, ‘Yes, I’ve read the rules and I’m not in conflict.’”

He dismissed concerns that some appointees covered by the requirements were not sufficiently computer-literate to use the form, saying that only five FAS professors do not have e-mail accounts.

“If people can’t cope with the web form, we’ll find a way of doing it, but nobody thinks there will be any serious problem.”

Martin said all FAS appointees will be expected to have filled out the form by Nov. 15.

—Staff writer Daniel K. Rosenheck can be reached at rosenhec@fas.harvard.edu.