Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A university adopts a research security policy requiring all visiting scholars to undergo a documented risk review.
- Is an instance
A national funder requires applicants to attest that their research security training is current.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A general data protection policy that addresses GDPR compliance but not foreign influence is not, on its own, a research security policy.
- Not an instance
An export-control standalone procedure without integration into broader research governance is narrower in scope.
Editorial commentary
Research security policy is the umbrella term for the safeguards, disclosure requirements, and review processes an institution or government puts in place to protect research integrity, intellectual property, sensitive data, and controlled technology from unauthorised foreign access or undisclosed foreign influence. It is broader than any single instrument: NSPM-33 is the current cornerstone US instrument, but research security policy also covers institutional conflict-of-interest and conflict-of-commitment rules, export-control compliance, visiting-scholar oversight, and cybersecurity practice for research data.
Core components
- Disclosure — standardised reporting of current and pending support, foreign components, in-kind contributions, and foreign talent recruitment program participation, largely implemented today through NSPM-33’s Common Forms.
- Training — mandatory research-security training for covered individuals, now required by NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA and other US agencies under CHIPS and Science Act Section 10634 (42 U.S.C. § 19234) authority.
- Export control — jurisdictional review, licensing, and Technology Control Plans for export-controlled research.
- Risk review — structured, documented assessment of international collaborations, visiting scholars, and gift or contract agreements, generally run by a dedicated research security office rather than by individual departments.
National frameworks differ in structure and legal weight. In the United States, research security policy rests primarily on NSPM-33 and the CHIPS and Science Act; the United Kingdom operates through its Trusted Research guidance; Australia through the University Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT) Guidelines; and Canada through its National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships. See Five Eyes alliance (research context) for how these national frameworks relate to one another.
Research security policy is distinct from classified or restricted-research policy, which governs research already determined to require security clearances or physical safeguards. It is also distinct from any single filing such as Current and Pending Support disclosure — that is one operational instrument a research security policy relies on, not the policy itself. Its stated rationale, following the JASON Report on research security, is to preserve the openness of fundamental research through transparency and disclosure rather than through blanket restriction of international engagement.
Also known as
research integrity and security policy
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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