NASA Has Made Some Changes to Improve Dissemination of Research Results

Since May 2007, NASA has changed some of its policies on the  dissemination of research results through publications and presentations,  and it has made a key leadership change in its main public affairs office to  address allegations that an official in this office had played a key role in  suppressing climate change science and media access to climate scientists  in the past. Since 2007, NASA has made no changes to its policy on  dissemination through news releases and media interviews. NASA Has Clarified the Roles and Responsibilities of Reviewing Officials for Dissemination of Research Results through Publications and Presentations

In late 2007 and early 2009, NASA changed one of its policies on  dissemination of research results through publications and presentations. NASA Changed a Key Public Affairs Position to Help Ensure Dissemination of Research Results to the Public through the Media

Since 2007, NASA has not made any changes to its media policy, but in  May 2007 it converted a key management position in the Headquarters  Office of Public Affairs from a political appointment to a career civil  service position. This change followed a management review—conducted  in early 2006 by NASA’s leadership—of allegations that its Headquarters  Office of Public Affairs had suppressed climate change science and denied  media access to scientists in 2004 and 2005. Fewer Researchers Are Familiar with NASA’s Dissemination Policies, but Most Believe the Policies Effectively Ensure Access to Research Results

Although NASA has taken some steps to increase researchers’ awareness  of its dissemination policies, our survey results in 2009 indicate that while  most researchers are familiar with the dissemination policies, fewer  researchers were familiar with them than in 2007, and slightly fewer were  confident they understood the policies well enough to follow them. Our 2007 and 2009 surveys also indicate that many researchers remain  unclear about when they may discuss research results that have potential  policy implications. However, in 2009, fewer researchers believed that  NASA’s efforts to inform them about the policies for disseminating  research through agency releases were extremely to moderately effective  (72 percent said so in 2009 compared with 81 percent in 2007). Nevertheless, we found in 2009,  relatively few NASA researchers are aware of and familiar with the  agency’s process to appeal dissemination decisions. NASA’s Policy on Dissemination through the Media Includes an Appeals Process, but Many Researchers Remain Unfamiliar with It

NASA has not adopted any new processes or procedures since 2007 for  researchers to use if they wish to appeal decisions regarding their requests  to disseminate their research results. Nonetheless, our 2009 survey shows that, as in 2007, about one-third of  NASA researchers reported that they were aware of NASA’s process to  appeal decisions about dissemination of research results, but only 8  percent responded that they were familiar with the process. According to our survey results, more researchers in 2009 had their  requests to disseminate research results denied for reasons other than  those stemming from standard technical reviews (about 12 percent of  researchers in 2009, compared with about 7 percent in 2007). In 2007, while we found that NASA’s policies were  generally clear, we also raised a number of concerns, including that many  NASA researchers did not understand the full range of the agency’s  policies and were generally unaware of NASA’s policy for appealing  dissemination decisions. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Authorization  Act of 2008 directed GAO to determine whether NASA is implementing the  regulations governing the dissemination of research in a clear and  consistent manner. In response, this report discusses (1) what changes, if  any, have been made since 2007 to the policies that guide the  dissemination of federally funded research results at NASA; (2) the extent  to which NASA researchers believe that the agency’s dissemination  policies have been more effectively communicated since 2007 and what  their experiences have been in using the process; and (3) what processes,  if any, NASA has adopted since 2007 for researchers to follow if they have  concerns about decisions regarding the dissemination of their research  results and how those concerns have been addressed. In all, we received a 57.5 percent response rate. During these pretests, we asked the researchers  to complete the survey as they would when they received it.
Why GAO Did This Study

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) researchers generally disseminate their agency-funded research results through publications, presentations, agency releases, and media interviews. In 2007, GAO reviewed dissemination policies at NASA and two other agencies and found that NASA's policies were generally clear, but GAO's survey of NASA researchers raised concerns that many of them did not understand some of the policies and were generally unaware of how to appeal dissemination decisions. Congress in 2008 directed GAO to determine whether NASA is implementing its policies in a clear and consistent manner. To meet that requirement, GAO determined (1) what changes have been made to NASA's policies since 2007, (2) the views of NASA researchers on whether the policies have been more effectively communicated since 2007, and (3) what changes have occurred since 2007 in NASA's processes for researchers to follow if they wish to appeal decisions about the dissemination of their research results. GAO conducted a Web-based survey of all 2,790 NASA researchers and had a 57.5 percent response rate.

What GAO Found

Since May 2007, NASA has changed some of its policies on the dissemination of research results through publications and presentations, but has not changed its policy on dissemination through news releases and media interviews, although it has made a key leadership change in its main public affairs office. Regarding its policies for dissemination through publications and presentations, in 2007 and 2009, NASA clarified the roles and responsibilities of officials who participate in the review and approval process that is required before agency-funded research is released. The changes also required managers to notify researchers when their requests to release research results have been approved or denied, and they required researchers to refrain from releasing results until they received approval. In contrast, although NASA has not made any changes to its policy that guides the dissemination of research through the media, in May 2007, it converted a key management position in the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs from a political appointment to a career civil service position. This was done to address allegations that an official in this office had suppressed climate change science and denied media access to scientists during 2004 and 2005. The change resulted from a management review conducted in early 2006 by NASA's leadership looking into these allegations. While the majority of researchers are familiar with the dissemination policies, GAO's survey indicates that in 2009, 87 percent of researchers were familiar with NASA's dissemination policies, compared with 92 percent in 2007, and slightly less were confident they understood the policies well enough to follow them for certain kinds of dissemination routes, such as publications, presentations, and agency releases. As in 2007, researchers continue to learn about the policies mainly through on-the-job training and e-mails from NASA officials. GAO's 2009 survey, like the 2007 survey, also indicates that researchers remain unclear about when they may discuss research results that have policy implications, including when they may discuss their own views, even though NASA has clarified its policy to allow researchers to do so as long as they do not attribute their views to the agency. Since 2007, NASA has not adopted any new procedures for appealing dissemination decisions. As in 2007, in 2009 relatively few NASA researchers were aware of and familiar with the agency's appeals process. Specifically, GAO's survey found that about one-third of NASA researchers were aware that the agency has a process to appeal decisions related to dissemination, but only about 8 percent said they were familiar with it. Fewer researchers in 2009 than in 2007 said they had sought to disseminate their research in the past 5 years (83 percent compared with 91 percent), and more researchers had their requests denied for other than technical reasons (12 percent in 2009 compared with 7 percent in 2007). Nonetheless, 85 percent of researchers continue to believe that the agency generally supports the dissemination of research results and that the agency's efforts to inform them about policies for all dissemination routes are generally effective.