Senior Advisor to the Provost for Research Policy

Dr. John Huchra is the Senior Advisor to the Provost for Research Policy at Harvard. Dr. Huchra, Doyle Professor of Cosmology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Director of the F. L. Whipple Observatory, leads efforts to develop consistent University policies and practices in the area of research policy. He represents the University in discussions and negotiations with outside funders, and chairs (or creates as necessary), University research policy committees. Dr. Huchra makes clear that research conduct and ethics are important topics for all faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students to understand. Issues he considers to be of broad interest include intellectual property rights (whose names should go on papers, how and when should supporting material be cited, who owns ideas, etc.); data management, including record keeping and presenting sufficient data for other researchers to be able to duplicate one's work; the use of other research data, and general behavior towards colleagues and competitors. He notes that each field has slightly different protocols for certain issues. Sites he recommends to researchers include:

• American Physical Society Statements on Professional Conduct
• American Statistics Association on the Ethical Guidelines of Statistical Practice
• Federal Policy On Research Misconduct (OSTP)
• Federal Policy On Research Misconduct (Preamble and Comments)
• Office of Research Integrity: Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research
• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) govern Harvard Research involving human subjects. The Institutional Review Board for the use of Human Subjects at FAS describes its policies clearly at: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~research/HumSub.html. Researchers must complete an application and be approved by the IRB before conducting research.
• Guidelines governing the Faculty of Arts and Sciences research involving the use of Non-Human Invertebrate Animals may be found in the Research Handbook (the Grey Book)
• Please also check the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees website
• The Office for Research Subject Protection (ORSP) at Harvard Medical School is home to the Harvard Medical Area (HMA) Standing Committees for research on Human Subjects, the Committee for Animals and the Committee for Microbiological Safety.
• The Provost's website provides information on Harvard University–wide policies, such as use of the Harvard name, faculty rights and responsibilities and the establishment of new educational and intellectual centers.

  The Provost's Office also provides an alphabetical listing of University–wide Policies and Procedures.