New York, NY; September 05, 2024—The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has published a new, comprehensive legislative initiative, the Model Science Policy Code. This Code provides lawmakers with a blueprint to reform federal science policy to guarantee that federal law facilitates best existing practices and reproducibility in government-funded science.
“Federal science policy is failing Americans,” explained NAS president Peter W. Wood. “This failure best summed in four crises: illiberal regulatory policies supported by technocrats and activists through false research; university extravagance in grant applications; imposition of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies on universities through such grants; and the careless writing and negligent enforcement of regulations and laws to counter scientific espionage. Altogether, these policy failures limit American liberty, waste public funds, impose and encourage identity-based politics, and endanger national security.”
The Model Science Policy Code seeks to remedy these crises by reforming federal regulatory and grants policy. Three acts target regulatory construction: the Reproducible Policy Act, Mathematical Modeling Reform Act, and Weight of Evidence Act. Five other acts reform grants policy: the Reproducible Grants Act, Replication Studies Funding Act, Negative Research Act, Indirect Costs Act, and Research Integrity Act.
Two further bills attempt to remedy policy failures that further politicize science and aid scientific espionage. The Science Depoliticization Act formulates an approach to make sure regulatory agencies operate on merit and equality in hiring and funding. Meanwhile, the Science National Interest Act reinforces foreign gift disclosure laws to provide transparency and prevent the hand delivery of sensitive research to American adversaries.
“Better regulations follow better science. It is on policymakers to ensure that the billions of dollars spent every year on scientific research are spent wisely—that they do not provide the false foundations for illiberal regulatory bureaucracies, divide Americans, or donate our competitive advantage to our enemies,” concluded Wood.
NAS is a network of scholars and citizens united by a commitment to academic freedom, disinterested scholarship, and excellence in American higher education. Membership in NAS is open to all who share a commitment to these broad principles. NAS publishes a journal and has state and regional affiliates. Visit NAS at http://www.nas.org.
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For more information about this issue, contact David Randall, Director of Research, National Association of Scholars, [email protected].
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