“Addressing this oversight issue doesn’t require restricting collaboration. It requires institutions and agencies to know where to look and to act appropriately.” – report author Dr Shirley Han (Head of Research Analytics, Digital Science).
📄 Download the report: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
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doi.orgResearch Security in U.S. Federally Funded Science: Evidence, Exposure, and a Risk-Calibrated Path ForwardThis report provides a decade-scale analysis of research security exposure across U.S. federally funded science, using publication, funding, researcher, and affiliation data from the Dimensions database for 2016–2025. It examines the prevalence and patterns of affiliations with organizations appearing on restricted entity lists, including direct researcher affiliations, international collaborations, subsequent federal funding, and the role of visiting scholars and other short-term appointees.The findings show that overall entity-list exposure has declined from its 2018–2019 peak, even as international collaboration has remained relatively stable, while also identifying persistent areas of risk, including rapid re-entry into federal funding following entity-list affiliations and a potential policy gap involving transient researchers.Drawing on these findings, the report proposes a risk-calibrated framework for research institutions and federal agencies built around four steps: Classify, Screen, Assess, and Act - to support more proportionate, evidence-based research security decision-making while preserving responsible international scientific collaboration.The underlying dataset is published as a companion record: doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.33995364