United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee 

on Commerce, Justice, Science, and 

Related Agencies, Committee on 

Appropriations, U.S. Senate 

FEDERAL 

RESEARCH 

Policies Guiding the 

Dissemination of 

Scientific Research 

from Selected 

Agencies Should Be 

Clarified and Better 

Communicated 

May 2007 

 

GAO-07-653 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

May 2007

FEDERAL RESEARCH

Policies Guiding the Dissemination of 

Scientific Research from Selected 

Agencies Should Be Clarified and Better 

Communicated 

Highlights of GAO-07-653, a report to the 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Commerce,

Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, 

Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate 

Researchers at federal agencies 

disseminate their research results 

through a variety of approaches, 

including scientific publications, 

presentations, press releases, and 

media interviews. Because of 

recent concerns about some

federal researchers possibly being 

restricted from disseminating their 

research on controversial topics,

GAO determined (1) the policies 

that guide the dissemination of

federal research at the National 

Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA), the 

National Institute of Standards and

Technology (NIST), and the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA); (2) how 

effectively these agencies have

communicated their policies to

researchers; and (3) the extent to

which researchers have been 

restricted in disseminating their 

research. GAO conducted a survey

of 1,811 researchers randomly 

selected at the three agencies, and 

had a 66 percent response rate. 

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making recommendations 

to the Department of Commerce, 

NASA, NIST, and NOAA to clarify 

their dissemination polices for 

press releases and media 

interviews, ensure researchers 

have a policy for appealing 

dissemination decisions, and 

provide training on these policies. 

In commenting on a draft of this 

report, Commerce, responding for

NIST, NOAA, and itself, generally

concurred with GAO’s findings and 

recommendations, as did NASA. 

Most of the NASA, NIST, and NOAA policies that guide the dissemination of 

federally funded research generally facilitate the dissemination process, but 

some do not. GAO found that overall NASA’s policies, including its recently 

revised media policy, are clear and should help facilitate dissemination 

regardless of the dissemination approach used. At NIST and NOAA, GAO 

found that the agencies’ policies for dissemination through publications and 

presentations were generally clear and should facilitate dissemination; but 

their policies for disseminating research through media interviews and press 

releases may hinder it. For example, because both NIST and NOAA are part 

of Commerce, researchers at these agencies must comply with departmentlevel policies to disseminate their research results through media interviews 

or press releases, but Commerce’s policies are outdated and can prevent 

researchers from meeting media schedules. Moreover, requests by NOAA 

researchers to share their research via media interviews and press releases

may be further hampered because these researchers must also comply with 

their own agency’s media interview and press release policies in addition to 

the Department of Commerce’s. NOAA officials told GAO that because its 

media interview and press release policies lack clarity, they have been 

inconsistently interpreted by NOAA public affairs officials. 

According to GAO’s survey, NASA, NIST, and NOAA have made efforts to 

communicate their dissemination policies to their research staff, but many 

researchers are not confident that they know how to comply with some of 

the policies. The agencies have communicated their dissemination policies 

through staff meetings, on agency Web sites, and in limited formal training. 

While 90 percent of researchers are confident that they understand the 

policies for publications, only about 65 percent are confident they 

understand their agency’s media interview and press release policies well 

enough to comply with them. Similarly, almost half of the researchers across 

the agencies are unsure whether their agency’s policy allows them to discuss

their personal views on the policy implications of their research. Finally, 

only 25 percent of researchers across the agencies are aware of a process to 

follow to appeal denials of requests to disseminate their research. 

On the basis of responses to GAO’s survey, 6 percent—or about 200 

researchers—across NASA, NIST, and NOAA had dissemination requests 

denied during the last 5 years. One of the most common reasons researchers 

mentioned for these denials was that the topic of the research was sensitive 

or restricted for security reasons; in some cases, no reason was given. Most 

researchers at these agencies believe that their agency is more supportive of 

dissemination of research through publications and presentations, than 

dissemination through the media. Most NIST and NOAA researchers believe 

that their agency consistently applies the dissemination policies for each 

route of dissemination, while more researchers at NASA believe the agency

consistently applies its policies for publications than believe the agency 

consistently applies its policies for press releases and interviews. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-653.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Ms. Anu Mittal 

at (202) 512-3841 or mittala@gao.gov. 
Contents 

Letter 1

Results in Brief 4

Background 7

NASA, NIST, and NOAA Policies Generally Facilitate the 

Dissemination of Research, but Some Do Not 11 

Despite Agencies’ Efforts to Communicate Research Dissemination 

and Dispute Resolution Policies, Many Researchers Are Not 

Confident about How to Comply with Them 20 

Six Percent of Researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA Had 

Dissemination Requests Denied, and Many Believe That Their

Agencies Are Less Supportive of Media Interviews than Other 

Dissemination Methods 26 

OSTP Provides Indirect Oversight of Agencies’ Dissemination 

Policies 31

Conclusions 32

Recommendations for Executive Action 33 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 33 

Appendix I Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 35 

Appendix II Selected Survey Results for NASA, NIST, and 

NOAA 40 

Appendix III Comments from the Department of Commerce 88 

Appendix IV Comments from the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 93 

Appendix V Comments from the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy 95 

Page i GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix VI GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 96

Figures 

Figure 1: NOAA/Commerce News Release Review Process, as of 

March 2006 19 

Figure 2: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Learned How 

to Comply with Dissemination Policies through Various 

Methods 22

Figure 3: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Are Confident 

That They Understand Policies Well Enough to Follow 

Them 23

Figure 4: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Believe That 

Their Agency Supports Dissemination, by Dissemination 

Route 29

Figure 5: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Believe That 

Their Agency Consistently Applies Policies, by 

Dissemination Route 31 

Page ii GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Abbreviations 

EOP Executive Office of the President 

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy 

OPCIA Office of Public, Constituent, and Intergovernmental Affairs 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further 

permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or 

other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to 

reproduce this material separately. 

Page iii GAO-07-653 Federal Research
United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 

May 17, 2007

The Honorable Barbara A. Mikulski 

Chairman 

Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 

 Science, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Barbara A. Mikulski 

Chairman 

Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 

 Science, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

Dear Madam Chairman: 

Federal agencies strive to base science-related public policy on the best 

available information provided through objective research, some of which 

is conducted by federal researchers. Because progress in scientific 

understanding depends on open communication, sharing research results 

with the broader research community is necessary to help validate and

expand upon these results. While the results of some research cannot be

disseminated because of national security or intellectual property 

concerns, dissemination of most federally funded research helps ensure a 

maximum return on the public’s investment in this research. Much 

scientific research is either conducted by federally employed researchers 

or supported through grants and contracts awarded by over a dozen 

federal departments and agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA). This report focuses on the dissemination of 

research conducted by federally employed researchers at these three 

agencies, as you requested. 

Federal agencies strive to base science-related public policy on the best 

available information provided through objective research, some of which 

is conducted by federal researchers. Because progress in scientific 

understanding depends on open communication, sharing research results 

with the broader research community is necessary to help validate and

expand upon these results. While the results of some research cannot be

disseminated because of national security or intellectual property 

concerns, dissemination of most federally funded research helps ensure a 

maximum return on the public’s investment in this research. Much 

scientific research is either conducted by federally employed researchers 

or supported through grants and contracts awarded by over a dozen 

federal departments and agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA). This report focuses on the dissemination of 

research conducted by federally employed researchers at these three 

agencies, as you requested. 

The topics of research performed by NASA, NIST, and NOAA cover the 

gamut, from space exploration equipment to voting technology to fishery 

ecosystem health. For example, NASA’s research is diverse and is spread 

among 10 centers across the United States. These centers perform work 

that covers topics ranging from aeronautical research to exploration 

systems to Earth, moon, and space exploration. NIST, an agency within 

the Department of Commerce, conducts research that is used by a variety

of government and industrial customers in diverse areas, such as 

electronic voting technology, secured automated banking, drinking water 

quality, and fuel cell technology. Research at NIST is spread across various 

laboratories that focus on particular scientific pursuits, such as 

information technology, materials science and engineering, and building 

The topics of research performed by NASA, NIST, and NOAA cover the 

gamut, from space exploration equipment to voting technology to fishery 

ecosystem health. For example, NASA’s research is diverse and is spread 

among 10 centers across the United States. These centers perform work 

that covers topics ranging from aeronautical research to exploration 

systems to Earth, moon, and space exploration. NIST, an agency within 

the Department of Commerce, conducts research that is used by a variety

of government and industrial customers in diverse areas, such as 

electronic voting technology, secured automated banking, drinking water 

quality, and fuel cell technology. Research at NIST is spread across various 

laboratories that focus on particular scientific pursuits, such as 

information technology, materials science and engineering, and building 

Page 1 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
and fire research. Similarly, the breadth of research activities undertaken 

by NOAA, another Commerce agency, includes providing weather, water,

and climate services; managing and protecting fisheries and sensitive 

marine ecosystems; conducting atmospheric, climate, and ecosystems 

research; and promoting efficient and environmentally safe commerce and 

transportation. 

Research generated by NASA, NIST, and NOAA researchers can be 

disseminated through a number of different routes to reach a variety of

audiences. Some dissemination routes, such as through publications, 

including peer-reviewed journals and agency scientific and technical 

reports, are useful for sharing information with the scientific community. 

Similarly, researchers can present their findings to colleagues at 

conferences, workshops, symposia, or professional society meetings. 

Other dissemination routes can reach a still wider audience. For example, 

agency press releases or postings on agency Web sites can help target 

media attention to particular research findings, and media interviews can 

provide the general public with access to scientific information. 

In recent years, concerns have emerged regarding the possibility that 

limits are being placed on the efforts of federally employed researchers to 

share the results of their work through these various dissemination routes. 

For example, in January 2006, the press reported allegations that a NASA 

scientist was restricted from speaking with the press after presenting his 

research findings related to climate change at a conference. In addition, 

some researchers at NOAA have claimed that the agency had put 

restrictions on their ability to speak to reporters, had imposed delays in 

the approval and coordination process for speaking with the media, or had 

censored their views in issued reports. 

In this context, we (1) identified and evaluated the policies that guide the 

dissemination of federal research results at NASA, NIST, and NOAA; 

(2) determined how effectively the dissemination and dispute resolution 

policies of these agencies have been communicated to researchers; and 

(3) determined the extent to which researchers at these agencies have 

experienced restrictions on the dissemination of their research results. In 

addition, we obtained information on the role that the Office of Science 

and Technology Policy (OSTP) has identified for itself in helping agencies

develop and implement policies related to the dissemination of research 

results. 

To identify and evaluate the policies that guide the dissemination of 

federally funded research results at NASA, NIST, and NOAA, we obtained, 

Page 2 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
reviewed, and analyzed the dissemination policies for these agencies, in

addition to relevant policies from Commerce. In addition, we spoke with 

managers and researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA as well as public 

affairs officials at each of these agencies and Commerce. During these 

interviews, we confirmed that we had copies of the relevant dissemination

policies and discussed how these policies were put into practice. To 

determine how effectively these policies have been communicated to 

researchers and the extent to which researchers at these agencies have

experienced restrictions on the dissemination of their research results, we 

surveyed a stratified random sample of 1,811 researchers across scientific 

and engineering disciplines at NASA, NIST, and NOAA. This sample 

included 578 NASA researchers, 699 NIST researchers, and 534 NOAA 

researchers. We selected these 1,811 researchers from among the 1,794 

researchers at NASA, 1,337 researchers at NIST, and 1,815 researchers at 

NOAA. Overall, we received a 66 percent response rate to our survey, for a 

total of 1,177 respondents. We defined researchers to be included in our 

population as federally employed scientists, engineers, or other 

researchers who are in a position to disseminate their research results to a 

wider audience. Through our survey, we sought the researchers’ views on 

their agencies’ research dissemination policies, the level of agency support 

for dissemination, and their experiences with dissemination. In addition, 

we asked the researchers to provide examples of ways in which their 

agencies’ dissemination policies work well and ways in which these 

policies could be improved. All estimates based on our survey allow us to 

project the results of our survey to all researchers at these three agencies

with a 95 percent level of confidence. Unless otherwise noted, all 

percentage estimates have a 95 percent confidence interval within plus or 

minus 8 percentage points. In addition, any comparison between point 

estimates is statistically significant at the 0.05 level, unless otherwise 

noted. In one instance, the number of responses to three follow-up 

questions designed to elicit elaborative information received too few 

responses to generalize to the population. Although we cannot generalize 

from these responses, we included this information because it provides 

context for specific concerns that these respondents had about certain 

research dissemination policies at their agencies. Where we use this 

information, we highlight the fact that it cannot be generalized to the 

population by attributing the statements as a survey response, rather than 

as researcher perception. To determine OSTP’s role in helping agencies 

develop and implement policies for the dissemination of research results, 

we submitted detailed questions to OSTP officials, to which we received

written responses. Appendix I contains an expanded explanation of our 

scope and methodology, and appendix II contains selected survey results 

for NASA, NIST, and NOAA. We conducted our work from June 2006 

Page 3 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
through March 2007 in accordance with generally accepted government 

auditing standards. 

Most of the policies guiding the dissemination of scientific research at 

NASA, NIST, and NOAA generally facilitate the dissemination process, but 

some Commerce and NOAA policies lack clarity and can hinder 

dissemination. Specifically, we found the following: 

Results in Brief 

• At NASA, researchers must comply with both agencywide dissemination 

policies and policies established by the specific NASA centers to which 

they belong. We found that NASA policies are generally clear and should 

help facilitate the dissemination of research results. For example, NASA’s 

recently revised media policy clearly defines the roles and responsibilities 

for managers, researchers, and public affairs staff; details steps in the 

process for dissemination via press releases and interviews; and describes 

a process to resolve disputes about agency decisions regarding press 

releases. To supplement the policy, NASA has also developed operating 

procedures for the release of public information and a “Frequently Asked 

Questions” guide. 

• At NIST, researchers must comply with both agency-level policies for the 

dissemination of research through publications and presentations and 

Commerce’s department-level policies for dissemination of research 

through media interviews and press releases. NIST’s policies generally 

facilitate the dissemination of scientific results because they clearly 

describe the reviews that are required before publications and 

presentations may be released, and they describe the process that 

researchers may use to appeal decisions made during the review process. 

In contrast, Commerce’s policies that apply to requests for media 

interviews and press releases have not been revised for over 20 years, are

unrealistic, and may hinder dissemination efforts. For example, Commerce 

requires all of its constituent agencies to submit proposed media 

interviews and press releases to its department-level Office of Public 

Affairs for review and approval; it does not delegate authority to approve 

these activities to the agency-level public affairs offices. Because of the 

potentially high volume of requests, sometimes in the hundreds after a 

large event, it is not realistic to expect the department-level Office of 

Public Affairs to review every media interview and press release request 

that each Commerce agency generates. 

• At NOAA, researchers must comply with both agency-level policies and 

policies established by individual NOAA program offices for dissemination 

of research through publications and presentations. These policies 

Page 4 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
generally facilitate dissemination, because they are clear and delegate 

authority to approve dissemination requests to managers in the office to

which the researcher belongs. For dissemination of research through 

press releases and media interviews, NOAA researchers must comply not

only with Commerce’s department-level policies, which as previously 

mentioned are outdated and may hinder dissemination, but also with 

NOAA’s agencywide policies, which are unclear and may further impede 

dissemination. For example, the lack of clarity in NOAA’s media interview 

policy has led to different interpretations of the policy by NOAA public 

affairs officials, which results in an uneven application of the policy 

among researchers. Some public affairs officials have interpreted the 

policy to mean that researchers are required to obtain prior approval for 

all interviews, while others believe researchers have to notify the public 

affairs office only after the interview has occurred. 

Despite the agencies’ efforts to communicate their dissemination policies 

to researchers, many researchers are not confident that they know how to 

comply with some of these policies or how to resolve disputes regarding 

agency decisions, according to our survey. NASA, NIST, and NOAA have 

employed a variety of formal and informal methods, including staff 

meetings and notifications on agency Web sites, to communicate 

dissemination policy to their researchers. However, most researchers 

learned how to comply with their agency’s policies through informal 

methods, such as e-mails from management and on-the-job experience,

rather than through more formal means, such as training sessions. 

Moreover, many researchers are not confident that they understand all of 

the policies well enough to follow them. For example, according to our 

survey, while an estimated 90 percent of researchers across all three 

agencies believe they understand their agency’s policy for dissemination 

through publications well enough to comply with them, only about 65 

percent of researchers believe they understand their agency’s policies for 

media interviews and press releases. Similarly, although NASA and NOAA 

leaders have told researchers that they may discuss potential policy 

implications of their research as long as they identify such views as their 

personal opinions and not those of the agency, this communication has 

not been effective, as fewer than one-half of the researchers at these two 

agencies believe they are free to discuss their views. In addition, only 25 

percent of researchers across all three agencies are aware of a process or

procedure they are to follow if they want to appeal denials of requests to 

disseminate their research. 

On the basis of our survey results, we estimate that 6 percent (about 200) 

of the researchers across NASA, NIST, and NOAA have been denied 

Page 5 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
approval to disseminate their research results in the past 5 years. Despite 

the difficulties experienced by these researchers, most researchers believe

that their agency either encourages dissemination of research results or 

insists on it. However, researchers believe that, overall, their agencies tend

to be less supportive of dissemination through media interviews than 

through other dissemination routes. Among the most common reasons 

researchers mentioned for denials of their requests for dissemination, 

other than those stemming from standard technical review, is that the 

topic or issue of the research was sensitive or that the research was 

restricted for security reasons. In some instances, researchers reported 

that their agency gave them no reason for the denial. As a result of these 

denials, many of these researchers gave up trying to disseminate their 

results, while others subsequently disseminated the results of their work 

using a different dissemination route. For example, one researcher who 

had been denied permission to present his research at a conference went

on to disseminate the research results by publishing a paper. Regarding 

agency support for dissemination, over 90 percent of the researchers at 

NASA, NIST, and NOAA believe that their agency supports dissemination 

of research results through publications and presentations; and 

significantly fewer researchers, ranging from 54 percent of the researchers 

at NOAA to 68 percent of the researchers at NIST, believe that their agency

is supportive of dissemination through media interviews. Finally, most 

researchers at NIST and NOAA believe that their agencies consistently 

apply the dissemination policies for each route of dissemination. In 

contrast, more researchers at NASA believe that the agency consistently 

applies its policies for publications than believe that the agency 

consistently applies its policies for press releases and media interviews. 

According to OSTP, it does not conduct scientific research on its own nor 

does it formulate or directly oversee the development of dissemination 

policies or decisions at individual agencies. However, OSTP has publicly 

affirmed the value of science as a basis for federal action and recognizes

the importance of timely, complete, and accurate communication of 

scientific information. The OSTP Director has on several occasions asked 

the leaders and chief scientists of federal agencies to develop, revise, or 

reemphasize their dissemination policies and to ensure that agency

employees and managers understand their rights and obligations under 

these policies. The director has cited NASA’s media policy as a model for 

other agencies to consider in developing their own dissemination policies. 

Given the lack of clarity of some dissemination policies, the lack of a

process for appealing dissemination decisions, and researcher uncertainty 

about how to comply with these policies, we are recommending that 

Page 6 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Commerce and NOAA clarify their policies for disseminating research 

results via press releases and media interviews. Furthermore, we are 

recommending that Commerce, NASA, NIST, and NOAA review their 

dissemination policies and ensure that they clearly identify a process by 

which researchers can appeal dissemination decisions, and provide formal 

training to inform, reinforce, and update managers, researchers, and 

public affairs staff on these policies. Commerce, on behalf of NIST, NOAA, 

and itself, generally concurred with our findings and recommendations; 

NASA and OSTP concurred with our recommendations. 

In recent years, there have been a number of allegations concerning 

interference with federal researchers in their efforts to disseminate their 

research results to a wider audience, external to their agency.

1

 Many of 

these allegations have concerned interference with researchers’ attempts 

to speak with the media or present research findings at conferences. These 

claims have frequently surrounded research on politically sensitive topics,

such as climate change and the role it may play in connection to other 

weather events, such as hurricanes. For example, some federal 

researchers have alleged that they were not allowed to use the phrase 

“global warming,” and others have alleged that NOAA has limited scientific

debate by not reporting all of the research regarding a possible connection 

between global warming and increased hurricane intensity. 

These concerns have resulted in a number of inquiries into the

dissemination practices and policies at several federal agencies. For 

example, in May 2006, in response to a congressional request, the National 

Science Foundation’s National Science Board examined the existing 

policies of selected federal science agencies, including NASA and NOAA, 

to determine if they contained steps to ensure the credibility of research 

results and insulate these results from suppression or distortion. The 

board found that there was no consistent federal policy regarding the 

dissemination of research results by federal employees and recommended 

that all agencies that conduct research establish policies and procedures 

to encourage an open exchange of data and results. The board also 

recommended that the administration develop and issue an overarching 

Background 

 1

GAO, Data Quality: Expanded Use of Key Dissemination Practices Would Further 

Safeguard the Integrity of Federal Statistical Data, GAO-06-607 (Washington, D.C.: May 

31, 2006); and Bureau of Justice Statistics: Quality Guidelines Generally Followed for 

Police-Public Contact Surveys, but Opportunities Exist to Help Assure Agency

Independence, GAO-07-340 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 30, 2007). 

Page 7 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
set of principles for the communication of scientific information by 

government scientists, policymakers, and managers that could be used as

the framework under which each agency would develop its specific 

policies and procedures. 

In addition to the National Science Board review, other groups have 

sought information on the dissemination activities of federal agencies. For 

example, in 2005, Environmental Science and Technology, an online and 

print journal published by the American Chemical Society, requested and 

received copies of NOAA Office of Public Affairs documents through the 

Freedom of Information Act pertaining to climate change, including 

exchanges between NOAA scientists and public affairs staff. Furthermore, 

in September 2006, 14 Senators requested that the Inspectors General at 

Commerce and NASA investigate reports of political interference with the

work of scientists at NASA and NOAA. In February 2007, the Union of 

Concerned Scientists and the Government Accountability Project, two 

nongovernmental advocacy organizations, jointly issued a report 

examining the extent to which politics play a role in scientific research. 

More recently, over the first few months of 2007, Congress has held 

several hearings exploring allegations of political interference with the 

work of government climate change scientists. 

A number of federal agencies conduct scientific research that is used to 

inform federal policy decisions. This report focuses on NASA and 2 of the 

13 agencies within Commerce—NIST and NOAA.2

 NASA’s organic 

statute—the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, as amended—

calls for NASA to “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate 

dissemination” of the scientific and technical information resulting from 

NASA’s research efforts. This work is structured around four mission 

areas—aeronautics research, exploration systems, science, and space 

operations—and is performed at 10 research and flight centers across the 

United States. Each of these centers performs a variety of research, 

engineering, construction, and support functions related to the mission 

areas, and each has a separate management structure, including a center 

director, to guide its activities. Furthermore, each center has its own 

public affairs office that is responsible for managing the center’s media 

contacts and communications. In addition, NASA headquarters has its own 

public affairs office that oversees agencywide programs and activities to 

 2

Although these 13 entities are typically bureaus or administrations, for the purposes of this

report we refer to them as “agencies.” 

Page 8 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
coordinate and maintain open and credible communication channels to 

the news media and the public. 

Each of Commerce’s 13 agencies is headed by its own director, 

undersecretary, or assistant secretary. Even though each of these agencies 

has its own public affairs office, Commerce’s Office of Public Affairs is 

responsible for overseeing public affairs interactions for the department, 

such as issuing press releases and answering media inquiries, as well as 

for keeping abreast of the activities at all 13 agencies, many of which 

disseminate research results, as is the case with NIST and NOAA. NIST’s 

mission is “to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by 

advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that 

enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.” To a large

extent, this mission is fulfilled by the research undertaken by scientists, 

engineers, and technical experts at the agency’s Maryland and Colorado 

facilities. NIST is specifically required to disseminate research conducted 

under several of its programs. Most research at NIST is conducted at one 

of its eight laboratories, covering research areas such as manufacturing 

engineering, physics, and information technology. It is NIST’s policy to 

publish the results of these technical programs openly, widely, and 

promptly, and this is accomplished through scientific reports issued by 

researchers as well as press releases and Web-based newsletters issued by 

NIST’s Public and Business Affairs Office. NOAA is the largest of the 

Commerce agencies, and its work is structured around four program 

goals—ecosystems, climate, weather and water, and commerce and 

transportation—and seven operating organizations, or program offices.3

Similar to NASA and NIST, NOAA headquarters has a public affairs 

office—the Office of Communications—which is led by a director and 

tasked with facilitating media and public communications with the 

agency.

4

 Each of NOAA’s program offices also has a public affairs officer 

who reports to the director of the Office of Communications and serves as 

the primary public affairs contact for program office researchers. 

 3

These program offices are also referred to as “line offices” and include the Office of 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and 

Information Service; the National Marine and Aviation Operations; the National Marine 

Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; the National Weather Service; and the Office

of Program Planning and Integration. 

4

NOAA’s public affairs office, previously called the “Office of Public, Constituent, and 

Intergovernmental Affairs,” was renamed the “Office of Communications” in January 2007.

Page 9 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Research dissemination at each of these agencies is guided by

departmental or agency policies. In addition, the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) has also issued guidelines and bulletins that have an 

impact on the dissemination of research results. For example, in October 

2001, OMB issued its Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the 

Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated

by Federal Agencies, which required agencies to issue their own 

guidelines to ensure the quality of information being disseminated.5

 NASA, 

NIST, and NOAA have all issued their own information quality guidelines.6

In addition, OMB issued the Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer 

Review in December 2004 that established governmentwide guidance

establishing that important scientific information shall be peer-reviewed 

by qualified specialists before it is disseminated by the federal 

government. Among other things, the bulletin provides guidance to federal

agencies on what information is subject to peer review and requires 

agencies to begin a systematic process of peer-review planning for 

influential scientific information (including highly influential scientific 

assessments) that the agency plans to disseminate in the foreseeable 

future. 

In addition to the research activities of specific agencies, OSTP advises the 

President and others in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) on the 

effects of science and technology on matters being considered in the 

policymaking process. OSTP serves as a source of scientific and 

technological information and advice for the President with respect to 

major policies of the federal government and acts as the scientific and 

technical arm of the EOP policymaking process. As part of this work, 

OSTP and OMB collaborate to help agencies develop research and 

development budgets to address national priorities. OSTP meets regularly 

with agency staff as well as representatives of industry, academia, and the

general public to seek or share information about science and technology 

 5

These guidelines implement section 515 of the Treasury and General Government 

Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001. Section 515 directs OMB to issue governmentwide 

guidelines that “provide policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring 

and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including

statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies.” Within 1 year after OMB issued 

these guidelines, agencies were to issue their own implementing guidelines. Pub. L. No.

106-554 § 515, 114 Stat. 2763A-154 (2000). 

6

Commerce issued its information quality guidelines in October 2002. In addition, in light of 

the diversity of the department’s mission, these guidelines directed each of the 

department’s operating units to issue their own guidelines.

Page 10 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
policy and leads interagency efforts to develop and implement science and

technology policies. 

Researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA must comply with both office 

specific and agencywide or departmental-level policies, most of which 

facilitate dissemination of research. NASA’s researchers are subject to 

agency-level policies and center-specific policies for the dissemination of 

research through publications, presentations, press releases, and media 

interviews, and these policies generally facilitate dissemination. NIST and 

NOAA have agency-level policies that generally facilitate the dissemination

of research results through publications and presentations. Researchers at

NIST and NOAA must follow both agency-level policies and guidance and 

Commerce’s department-level policies if they want to disseminate their 

research through media interviews and press releases. However, NOAA’s 

agency-level and Commerce’s department-level policies may hinder 

dissemination through these routes. 

At NASA, researchers must comply with both agencywide policies and 

center-specific policies when disseminating research results, regardless of 

the form this dissemination takes. For example, for publications and 

presentations, all researchers are directed to comply with the agency’s 

policy for approval, publication, and dissemination of scientific and 

technical information.7

 Scientific and technical information is defined as 

the results—including facts, analyses, and conclusions—of basic and 

applied scientific, technical, and related engineering research and 

development. This information can be disseminated through a variety of

channels, including NASA publications, outside journals, presentations at

meetings or workshops, and Web sites. The policy directs that all scientific

and technical information released outside the agency through these 

means must be reviewed to determine whether public access to it should 

be prohibited or restricted, for national security or intellectual property 

reasons. In addition, NASA’s policies direct that all research results that 

are to be disseminated undergo professional and technical reviews to 

ensure that the information is being clearly communicated, is technically 

accurate, and meets data quality standards. These technical review and 

management approval procedures vary depending upon the information 

NASA, NIST, and 

NOAA Policies 

Generally Facilitate 

the Dissemination of 

Research, but Some 

Do Not 

NASA Policies Provide 

Clear Guidance to 

Facilitate Research 

Dissemination 

 7

NASA, “Requirements for Documentation, Approval, and Dissemination of NASA Scientific 

and Technical Information,” NPR 2200.2B, March 25, 2005. 

Page 11 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
content, publication route, and intended audience—domestic or 

international. To indicate that a document has completed the necessary 

reviews, researchers generally must complete two forms—one identifying 

what restrictions, if any, need to be placed on the document prior to 

dissemination and the other indicating that the document has undergone 

technical peer review. NASA managers with whom we spoke at the centers 

said that they found the agency’s policies to be clear, easy to follow, and 

similar to procedures researchers follow in the academic community, 

although some said that the agency’s reviews to identify security 

restrictions can be cumbersome at times. 

Regarding dissemination of research through media interviews and press 

releases, researchers at NASA are subject to the agency’s policy on the 

release of information to news and information media, hereafter referred 

to as the “media policy.” This policy, which was revised in March 2006, 

governs the release of information to the media, especially information 

with the potential to generate significant media or public interest, 

including press releases, media advisories, news features, and Web 

postings.8

 According to NASA, the media policy in place prior to March 

2006 had not been substantively modified since 1987 and required 

clarification to be both useful and practical to implement. Furthermore, 

the NASA public affairs policy review team, composed of representatives 

from throughout NASA’s scientific and public affairs offices, found that 

the previous policies were convoluted, bureaucratic, and resulted in a 

breakdown between researchers and public affairs staff. 

We found that NASA’s revised 2006 media policy is generally clear and 

should help facilitate dissemination of research results by devolving 

decision making and providing a process to resolve disputes. The policy, 

its accompanying “Frequently Asked Questions” guide, and statements by 

the NASA Administrator assert NASA’s commitment to a culture of 

openness with the media and the public and affirm that the agency values 

the free exchange of ideas, data, and information as part of scientific and

technical inquiry. The policy defines the roles, responsibilities, and 

methods of coordination for managers, researchers, and public affairs staff 

and lays out guidelines for working with the public affairs office, clearly 

stating what public affairs officials can and cannot do. Specifically, 

regarding media interviews, the updated policy clearly affirms that NASA 

 8

NASA, “NASA Policy on the Release of Information to News and Information Media,” 14 

C.F.R. Part 1213. 

Page 12 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
employees may speak to the media and public about their work without 

prior approval; however, they must notify their immediate supervisor and 

their center public affairs office immediately thereafter. While researchers 

are encouraged to have a public affairs official present during interviews, 

it is not required and the policy clearly defines the role of public affairs 

staff as one of logistical support and clarification, not interference. Finally, 

the policy states that NASA employees may communicate conclusions on 

the basis of their research to the media. However, NASA employees who 

present personal views outside of their official area of expertise or 

responsibility must make clear that they are presenting their individual 

views and not those of the agency. 

In addition to clarifying the policy for conducting media interviews, 

NASA’s revised media policy also describes the process for dissemination 

via press releases or other media items, such as news features, media 

advisories, or news-related Web postings. Specifically, the policy, 

augmented by accompanying operating procedures, clearly outlines the 

coordination, review, and approval process that is required prior to issuing 

a press release. While some public affairs officials and managers told us 

that some of the reviews for press releases can require more time than 

available to meet the deadlines of the news cycle, they also felt that the 

revised policy had improved the approval process. In addition, the policy 

specifically delegates authority to NASA centers, independent of 

headquarters, to issue public information that is of local interest, among 

other things. Items eligible for issuance by the centers include releases on

specific research topics that have a targeted audience, such as the 

development of a new “superplastic” that would be of interest to people 

who use polymers, or an announcement of an upcoming lecture series to 

be held at the center. Delegating authority to the centers to issue their own 

press releases allows NASA to better publicize the work it does to targeted 

audiences of interest. Finally, the revised media policy describes the 

process for researchers to use when they disagree with the agency’s 

decision regarding whether to issue a press release or another type of 

public information. The policy allows such appeals to be elevated to the 

Office of the Administrator for resolution, if needed. 

NIST’s publication and presentation policy, called the Technical 

Communications Program, generally facilitates the dissemination of 

scientific results. Similar to NASA’s publications policy, NIST’s policy 

clearly describes the extent and type of reviews for technical and scientific

accuracy that are required before publications and presentations may be 

released outside the agency. For example, abstracts and outlines for talks 

that are not of a sensitive nature and will be limited in distribution can be 

NIST and NOAA Policies 

Provide Clear Guidance to 

Facilitate the 

Dissemination of Research 

through Publications and 

Presentations 

Page 13 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
approved by the researcher’s division chief and do not need to go through 

a more extensive review. However, manuscripts for journals and books 

that are intended for public distribution must be reviewed and approved 

by the laboratory to which the researcher belongs as well as the NIST 

Editorial Review Board. This board, composed of NIST technical authors 

and editors from all organizational units, conducts a critical evaluation of

the technical content and methodology, among other things. If the review 

board does not support publication, it generally recommends changes, 

which if made by the author, would result in approval. If the author 

chooses not to accept these changes, the policy delineates the steps that 

the author should take to resolve any disagreement. NIST managers said

that the guidance and procedures for getting potential publications 

through the editorial review process and disseminated were adequate, 

clear, and readily accessible to researchers on the internal NIST Web site. 

Similar to NIST, NOAA’s publication and presentation policy facilitates 

research dissemination and clearly describes the process for disseminating 

scientific and technical publications. Specifically, NOAA’s policy 

encourages each program office to review, edit, and disseminate its own 

publications, and the policy clearly delegates responsibility to each 

program office to ensure the scientific and technical quality of its 

publications and presentations.9

 Furthermore, NOAA has developed a 

standard form to guide the review process and to document final approval

for release. In addition, several NOAA program offices have supplemented 

these agencywide policies with office-specific ones. For example, the 

National Weather Service’s policy clearly delineates the review and 

approval process for their publications.10 Similarly, the National 

Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service created an officespecific form that documents the multiple reviews a proposed manuscript 

must undergo. This form, signed by the branch chief, division chief, and 

office director or deputy director, certifies that a research paper is worthy 

of scientific review or useful for education or outreach purposes. Several

NOAA managers told us that NOAA’s publication review process was clear 

and worked well. 

 9

NOAA, “Scientific and Technical Publications,” NAO 201-32G, January 27, 1993. 

10National Weather Service, “Clearances for NWS Employee Papers,” National Weather

Service Policy Directive 100-1, December 10, 2002 and “Science Review and Approval,”

National Weather Service Policy Directive 80-5, April 8, 2004. 

Page 14 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Researchers at NIST and NOAA are subject to Commerce’s departmentlevel policies when disseminating research results through media 

interviews and press releases; however, these policies are outdated and

unrealistic and can impede the dissemination of research results. At NIST, 

researchers have been provided with agency-specific guidance to 

supplement Commerce’s department-level media interview and press 

release policies. At NOAA, researchers must also adhere to agency-level 

media and press release policies, which are generally unclear and can lead

to inconsistent interpretations that can further hinder the dissemination of 

research through these dissemination routes. 

Researchers at NIST and NOAA must follow Commerce’s department-level 

policies for dissemination of research results through media interviews 

and press releases; however, these policies, which have not been revised 

for over 20 years, are outdated and unrealistic.11 Commerce policies direct 

all of its constituent agencies to submit all proposed media interviews and 

press releases to its Office of Public Affairs for review and approval, and

the department does not delegate authority to approve any of these 

activities to the agency-level public affairs office. Because Commerce’s 

public affairs office is responsible for overseeing the media activities for 

13 agencies, according to Commerce officials, it is not realistic to expect 

this office to review every media interview and press release request that 

each of these agencies generates. For example, from a large agency like

NOAA, the volume of media requests can range from dozens on a normal 

business day to hundreds following a major event, such as a tsunami. In 

addition, Commerce’s policy states that disputes concerning a potential 

media interview or press releases that are not resolved by the Director of 

Public Affairs shall be referred to the Secretary of Commerce. 

At a February 2007 Senate hearing, a Commerce official referred to the 

department’s communication policies as “contradictory” and “woefully 

outdated.” These policies, which have not been revised since 1983, were 

implemented prior to the expansion and widespread adoption of newer 

media outlets, such as the Internet and 24-hour cable news stations, and 

therefore do not take these routes of dissemination into consideration. 

While officials from Commerce’s Office of Public Affairs said that they 

would like to be informed about all press releases and interviews, they 

Researchers at NIST and 

NOAA Have to Comply 

with Commerce and 

Agency-Specific Policies 

for the Dissemination of 

Research through Media 

Interviews and Press 

Releases 

Researchers at NIST and NOAA 

Are Subject to Outdated 

Commerce Policies for Media 

Interviews and Press Releases 

 11Department of Commerce, “Outside Writing and Speaking; Departmental Approval,” DAO 

219-1, April 1, 1982; and “Release of News, Clearance of Speeches and Publications, and 

Media Coverage,” DAO 19-2, November 3, 1980. 

Page 15 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
realize that this request is not realistic given the volume of releases from 

some agencies. Consequently, Commerce public affairs officials 

acknowledged that even though it is required, they do not generally review 

low-level or routine releases. 

To streamline the approval process and respond to allegations by some 

researchers about the department’s interference with media dissemination

of research results, Commerce began an effort in November 2005 to revise 

its media and communications policies. According to a Commerce official,

this effort included three rounds of input. During the first round, 

Commerce solicited informal feedback from managers and some scientists 

at selected agencies, including at NIST and NOAA. As part of the 

subsequent two rounds, Commerce solicited input from managers and 

public affairs officials at all Commerce agencies. In addition, these 

officials were encouraged to share the draft with researchers and other 

public affairs officials within their agency to obtain their feedback and

input. We reviewed a draft of the revised policy in March 2007. Because 

the final policy was released after our audit work was completed, we did 

not conduct a detailed evaluation of the new policy. However, we did note 

that the revised policy included provisions to address some of the 

concerns we identified with the prior policy. For example, the revised 

policy affirms the department’s support for open and free communication 

of scientific and technical ideas, findings, and conclusions based on 

researchers’ official work and asserts that researchers are free to 

participate in interviews, without prior approval, on matters directly 

related to their research. In addition, the revised policy takes other 

positive steps, such as the inclusion of an appeals process and the 

clarification of the role of the public affairs office. However, it also 

contains some unclear elements that may cause confusion for the agencies 

and researchers who are trying to adhere to the policy. The policy was 

officially released on March 29, 2007, and, according to a Commerce 

official, it will be accompanied by a training program to educate public 

affairs officials on how to implement it. 

To supplement Commerce policies for dissemination of research results 

through media interviews and press releases, NIST has issued Web-based 

guidance that provides an overview of the Commerce policy and serves as 

a reference tool for NIST researchers who interact with the media. The 

guidance on responding to media inquiries explicitly states that interview 

requests from the media are to be cleared in advance through Commerce’s 

Office of Public Affairs. In addition, this guidance provides information on 

Commerce’s media policy in a question-and-answer format, including 

instructions that researchers should discuss only the research facts and 

Researchers at NIST Have Been 

Provided with Supplemental 

Agency Guidance 

Page 16 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
should not express personal opinions when communicating with the 

media. 

NIST managers commented that while NIST issues between 30 and 50

press releases a year, they have found that other dissemination methods, 

such as e-mailing a biweekly publication called Tech Beat, have been a 

more effective way to reach the media. In fact, the managers estimated 

that 60 percent of the news articles about NIST research are generated

from Tech Beat articles. Like press releases, Tech Beat articles go through 

the Commerce review and approval process, and they are subject to NIST 

technical and scientific review. NIST officials with whom we spoke said 

that while they forward most proposed interview requests to Commerce 

for review and approval, they generally do not seek approval for 

interviews that result from a press release or from a Tech Beat article 

previously approved by Commerce. 

In addition to adhering to Commerce’s policies for media interviews and 

press releases, researchers at NOAA must also follow NOAA-specific 

policies and procedures, which are at times unclear, leading to

inconsistent interpretation. For example, regarding media interviews, one 

part of NOAA’s policy directs its employees to inform NOAA headquarters 

or program office public affairs officials prior to participating in interviews

that are of national news interest, concern regulatory or controversial 

issues, or pertain to research having potential policy interest; however, 

another part of this policy states that responsibility of the NOAA 

headquarters’ public affairs office is to approve and coordinate media 

communications, including interviews and press releases.12 As a result of 

this unclear language, public affairs officials have interpreted these 

requirements differently. Some believe that researchers are required to 

obtain prior approval for all interviews, while others believe researchers 

must notify the public affairs office after an interview has occurred. This 

has resulted in an uneven application of the policy among researchers. 

Furthermore, the policy does not define what qualifies as “of national 

news interest” or “controversial,” thereby leaving the interpretation to 

each individual. 

In addition, some of NOAA’s procedures required for media interview 

approvals can be burdensome and could delay dissemination of research. 

To seek approval for a media interview, NOAA program office public

Researchers at NOAA Are 

Subject to Unclear AgencyLevel Media Interview and 

Press Release Dissemination 

Policies 

 12NOAA, “NOAA Media Policy,” NAO 219-6, June 22, 2004. 

Page 17 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
affairs staff are expected to complete a form that contains information 

about the topic, the potential questions, the media outlet, and the reporter,

among other things. The completed form is forwarded to the headquarters’ 

public affairs office for review and approval. However, while interview 

approvals typically occur within a few hours, in some cases they have 

arrived after the reporters’ deadlines, resulting in missed interviews, 

according to NOAA public affairs officials. Furthermore, some of these 

officials expressed concern that reporters may shy away from contacting 

NOAA researchers because of the drawn out approval process, ultimately 

causing NOAA to miss opportunities to inform the public about its work. 

Regarding press releases, NOAA public affairs officials have also 

interpreted approval requirements differently from one another. For 

example, some officials believe that the policy requires all press releases 

to be approved by the NOAA headquarters’ public affairs office, while 

others believe headquarters approval is not required for releases of 

regional interest or involving routine activities. NOAA’s press release 

policy, unlike NASA’s policy, does not distinguish between press releases 

on local topics and press releases on national topics and does not delegate 

authority to program office public affairs officials to issue such press 

releases. However, according to public affairs officials with whom we 

spoke, routine releases may not warrant the same scrutiny as ones likely 

to be of national interest or controversial. For example, a NOAA public 

affairs official commented that routine releases about StormReady—a 

community safety and emergency preparedness program—should be 

treated differently from press releases that have a broader scope, such as

annual releases of climate data. 

According to NOAA public affairs officials, the approval process for press 

releases is lengthy and burdensome, and approvals that took 1 to 2 days a 

few years ago can now take as long as 2 weeks to obtain. This is because 

the process involves 13 separate steps for approval that begin after the 

press release has been drafted, which itself can be a lengthy process. (See 

fig. 1.) In November 2006, another requirement was added to the approval

process—that is, a public affairs briefing memorandum must precede 

certain requests to issue a press release, such as those involving a 

controversial or “hot” topic. According to a senior NOAA public affairs 

official, the intent of requiring the memorandum was to inform NOAA 

management about upcoming announcements and help ensure that the 

program office public affairs staff had gathered enough information about 

the proposed release to judge its merit. 

Page 18 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Figure 1: NOAA/Commerce News Release Review Process, as of March 2006 

1 2 3

4 6 7 8

5

9 12

13

10

11

Review start

NOAA Line Office 

Public Affairs

OPCIA review and 

edit

Line office review

E-mail 

distribution to 

media

OPCIA for revisions

Line office revisions

Commerce Public 

Affairs Review

OPCIA for additional 

revisions or external 

review, if needed

NOAA Chief of 

Staff and 

Leadership review

NOAA General 

Counsel and/or 

Budget Office review, 

when appropriate

Policy Office/Program 

Coordination Office 

Legislative Affairs

Review

NOAA Goal Team 

Leads/Project 

Manager

NOAA Line Office 

Assistant 

Administrator

Source: NOAA Office of Public, Constituent, and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPCIA).

Note: OPCIA is also referred to as the NOAA headquarters office of public affairs. 

The myriad steps in the approval process can hinder the timely issuance of 

press releases. As was the case with delays in approving interviews, 

officials told us press releases that come out too late are in danger of not 

making it into the news and cited several instances in which requests to 

issue press releases never received an approval or a denial from 

headquarters public affairs and, consequently, were never released. 

Moreover, no explanation for the lack of response was offered to the 

public affairs office or the researcher. Furthermore, officials at a NOAA 

laboratory have become discouraged from seeking press releases for 

research conducted at the laboratory because of delays and the lack of 

responsiveness to such requests, further limiting NOAA’s ability to 

publicize its research. 

Page 19 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Despite Agencies’ 

Efforts to 

Communicate 

Research 

Dissemination and 

Dispute Resolution 

Policies, Many 

Researchers Are Not 

Confident about How 

to Comply with Them 

According to our survey, researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA usually 

learned about their agency’s dissemination policies through informal 

communication methods, rather than through formal training provided by 

their agency. In addition, more researchers at the three agencies are 

confident that they understand their agency’s policies on the 

dissemination of research through publications and presentations well 

enough to comply with them, than are confident that they understand their 

agency’s media interview and press release policies. Furthermore, many 

researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA are unsure whether their agency’s 

policies allow them to discuss research results with potential policy 

implications or to express personal views related to federal policy 

decisions. Finally, we estimate that only one-quarter of all researchers 

across the three agencies are aware of their agency’s processes to appeal

decisions made regarding requested dissemination. 

Most Researchers Learned 

about Agency 

Dissemination Policies 

through Informal Methods 

According to our survey and agency officials with whom we spoke, 

researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA were most likely to learn about 

their agency’s dissemination policies through informal communication 

methods. Most researchers at each agency learned about these policies 

through a variety of informal means, such as e-mails from their agency or 

operating unit managers, or through on-the-job training with supervisors. 

Researchers were less likely to learn about agency dissemination policies 

through formal training sessions, a method that agency officials told us 

was typically offered on a limited basis focused toward specific groups, 

such as those likely to have media contact. Specifically: 

• At NASA, we estimate that three-quarters of researchers learned of their

agency’s dissemination policies through e-mails or other correspondence 

from center or office managers, 70 percent through on-the-job training, 

and about one-half through notifications on internal agency Web sites. 

Managers and public affairs officials said that limited training on

dissemination of research through publications, presentations, and media 

interviews is available. At most centers, managers said that training on the

publication and presentation review process is done on the job by 

supervisors or managers, although some centers have conducted limited 

formal training on how to comply with export control regulations,13 which 

are a required segment of NASA’s scientific and technical review process. 

 13Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and International Traffic In Arms Regulations 

(“ITAR”) control the export of, among other things, certain technology and technical data 

to foreign countries.

Page 20 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Several NASA center public affairs officials said they have also conducted

limited formal training on media interviews, but this training was usually 

targeted toward researchers who are expected to have significant 

exposure to reporters. Headquarters and several center officials told us 

that little or no formal training had been conducted on NASA’s recently 

revised media policy. 

• At NIST, officials told us that they generally rely on the agency’s internal 

Web site to inform employees about NIST’s publication and presentation 

policies; however, they mentioned that more specific, individual training is 

offered on an as-needed basis. Media and communications training 

targeted toward researchers with high media exposure is offered 

periodically, covering the approval processes for media interviews and 

press releases. However, according to our survey estimates, nearly 80

percent of researchers received information about their agency’s policies 

through on the job training, and nearly two-thirds learned about them 

through e-mail communication from the agency. Additionally, about onehalf of researchers at NIST learned of the dissemination policies through 

notifications on internal agency Web sites or at staff or town-hall meetings; 

and fewer (about 24 percent) attended formal training sessions to learn 

about the policies. 

• At NOAA, researchers most often learned of the agency’s dissemination 

policies through informal methods, such as e-mails or other 

correspondence from center or office managers (75 percent), on-the-job 

training (59 percent), and notifications on internal agency Web sites (37 

percent). These sentiments were echoed by NOAA managers who told us 

that they typically inform researchers about the agency’s policies on 

dissemination of publications and presentations through on-the-job 

training, on an as-needed basis. They added that researchers are usually 

exposed to standard scientific peer review processes during graduate 

school, and that these processes are similar to the agency’s review 

processes. Regarding media interviews, at least one public affairs branch 

office offered a formal training course that included an overview of NOAA 

requirements in this area and offered advice on effectively communicating 

with the media. According to program office officials, this training was 

well received by those who participated. 

Figure 2 shows the methods by which researchers at NASA, NIST, and 

NOAA generally learned about their agency’s research dissemination 

policies. 

Page 21 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Figure 2: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Learned How to Comply with

Dissemination Policies through Various Methods

Most researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA feel confident that they know

how to comply with their agency’s policies for publications and 

presentations, but many do not feel as confident that they know how to 

comply with their agency’s policies on media interviews and press 

releases. (See fig. 3.) According to our survey, we estimate that more than 

80 percent of researchers at each agency are confident that they 

understand their agency’s policies on publications and presentations well 

enough to comply with them. At NIST, about three-quarters of researchers 

are also confident that they know how to follow their agency’s policies on 

media interviews and press releases. In contrast, nearly one-half of 

researchers at NASA and over one-third of researchers at NOAA are not 

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA NIST NOAA

Percentage

On-the-job training

Agency management e-mails

Local e-mails center or office management e-mails

Agency Web sites

Staff or town hall meetings

Formal training sessions

Confidence interval: displays the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval for

each estimate.

Training methods

Source: GAO survey.

Agency

Researchers Have More 

Concerns about Adhering 

to Their Agency’s Media 

Interview and Press 

Release Policies than to 

Their Publication and 

Presentation Policies 

Page 22 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
confident that they understand their agency’s policies on media interviews

well enough to follow them, and 40 percent of NASA researchers and 35 

percent of NOAA researchers are not confident they understand their 

agency’s policies on press releases. 

Figure 3: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Are Confident That They 

Understand Policies Well Enough to Follow Them 

Many researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA are unclear about whether 

their agency allows them to discuss research results with policy 

implications. This is particularly striking at NASA and NOAA, given that 

the leaders of these two agencies have each assured their researchers that

they may discuss the policy implications of their research. When research

results are consistent with their agency’s policy or position statements, we 

estimate that two-thirds of researchers across NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

believe that they are allowed to discuss these potential policy implications. 

However, when research results differ from their agency’s policy or 

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA NIST NOAA

Percentage

Publications

Presentations

Press releases

Media interviews

Confidence interval: displays the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval for

each estimate.

Understanding policy

Source: GAO survey.

Agency

Researchers Are Often 

Unclear about Whether 

They Can Discuss 

Research Results with 

Potential Policy 

Implications or Express 

Their Personal Views 

Page 23 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
positions statements, 23 percent of researchers across all three agencies 

believe they may not discuss those results, and 40 percent are not sure. In 

addition, even though NASA’s recently revised media policy clearly states 

that researchers are allowed to discuss conclusions drawn from their 

work with the media as long as they disclose them as personal views and

not views of the agency, many researchers are unsure whether they are 

allowed to discuss personal views related to potential policy implications 

of their research results. On the basis of our survey, we estimate that only

one-half of researchers at NASA believe that they may make such 

statements, and another 40 percent are not sure whether they can. 

Unlike NASA researchers, researchers at NIST are not allowed to discuss 

their personal views on the policy implications of their research, even if 

they disclose that the views are their own and not those of their agency. 

This is because NIST and Commerce policies state that when speaking 

publicly on topics related to research conducted at the agency, it is not 

realistic for a researcher to express personal views without the perception

that the employee is speaking on behalf of the agency. Nevertheless, we 

estimate that 24 percent of researchers at NIST believe that they are free

to discuss potential policy implications of their research provided they 

identify such views as their personal opinions and not those of the agency, 

and 49 percent of researchers at NIST are not sure whether they can 

discuss their personal views. 

NOAA researchers, like NIST researchers, are also subject to Commerce’s 

policy that restricts their ability to discuss their personal views. However, 

in a February 2006 e-mail to NOAA employees, the NOAA Administrator 

said that communicating personal views was allowed provided that the 

researcher stated the views were the researcher’s opinion. Despite the 

clarifying instruction from the administrator, we estimate that 42 percent 

of NOAA researchers are uncertain whether they may discuss personal 

views with the media, and another 40 percent believe they may do so if 

they offer a disclaimer. 

According to our survey, only 33 percent of NASA researchers, 26 percent 

of NIST researchers, and 17 percent of NOAA researchers are aware of 

their agencies’ processes to address disputes over dissemination requests. 

Even at NASA, where officials told us that the agency rolled out its revised 

media policy, which includes a dispute resolution process, with great 

fanfare, we estimate that only one-third of researchers are aware of the 

appeals process for dissemination of research. According to NASA 

headquarters and center public affairs officials with whom we spoke, no 

Researchers Are Generally 

Unaware of Their 

Agencies’ Process for 

Appealing Dissemination 

Decisions 

Page 24 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
one, to date, has attempted to use the dispute resolution process for 

media-related concerns. For other types of dissemination, such as through 

publications, center managers generally told us that formal processes for 

appeal did not exist; however, most managers said that a researcher would 

likely raise concerns through the chain of command or rely on other 

agency processes, such as those for personnel disputes. Most NASA center 

managers told us that disputes over disseminating scientific and technical

information are rare, and some managers said that they had never needed 

a formal process to resolve disputes.

NIST managers told us that the NIST technical review policy delineates a 

process for appeals of dissemination decisions for publications and 

presentations. However, according to our survey, we estimate that only 26 

percent of researchers at NIST are aware that such an appeals process 

existed. NIST officials said that no disputes over the dissemination of 

information via publications had occurred in the past 5 years. Regarding 

media contacts, Commerce officials said existing Commerce policies 

include a process to handle disputes. However, these officials 

acknowledged that the process may not have been clear to staff, and they 

plan to clarify this process in future policies. 

At NOAA, we estimate that 17 percent of researchers are aware of the 

agency’s appeals process. NOAA managers told us that the agency’s 

policies do not include an appeals process. The managers said that if a 

dispute arose, they expect the researcher to appeal the decision through 

the chain of command or use the agency’s alternative dispute resolution 

process, which involves mediation of the dispute by a neutral third party, 

often from another NOAA program office. 

Page 25 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
On the basis of our survey, we estimate that across NASA, NIST, and 

NOAA, 6 percent of researchers were denied the opportunity to 

disseminate their research results in the past 5 years, sometimes, they 

believe, without explanation. In general, however, most researchers at 

these agencies believe that their agency either insists on or encourages 

dissemination of research results. At the same time, significantly more 

researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA believe that their agency supports 

dissemination through publications and presentations rather than 

interviews with the media. Finally, most researchers at NIST and NOAA 

believe that their agencies consistently applied the dissemination policies 

across all routes of dissemination. In contrast, many researchers at NASA 

believe that policies for press releases and media interviews are not 

applied as consistently as its policies for publications. 

Six percent of the approximately 5,000 researchers, or about 200, across 

the three agencies have had their requests for dissemination denied for 

reasons other than those stemming from standard technical review. 

According to our survey, we estimate that 7 percent of NASA’s 1,794 

researchers, 4 percent of NIST’s 1,337 researchers, and 6 percent of 

NOAA’s 1,815 researchers have in the past 5 years been denied the 

opportunity to disseminate their research.14 The denials involved a wide 

range of research topics and occurred across all routes of dissemination, 

Six Percent of 

Researchers at NASA, 

NIST, and NOAA Had 

Dissemination 

Requests Denied, and 

Many Believe That 

Their Agencies Are 

Less Supportive of 

Media Interviews than 

Other Dissemination 

Methods 

Some Researchers at Each 

Agency Who Were Denied 

Approval to Disseminate 

Their Results Believe They 

Were Not Provided with an 

Adequate Explanation 

 14The number of researchers listed for each agency represents those who met our criterion

of being federally employed scientists, engineers, or other researchers who are in a

position to disseminate their research results to a wider audience. We estimate with 95 

percent confidence that the total estimated number of researchers across all three agencies 

who were denied is 5.9 percent, or 214 researchers, with a confidence interval of 4.5 

percent (162 researchers) to 7.8 percent (282 researchers). At NASA, the estimated 

number of researchers denied is 7.0 percent (102 researchers), with a confidence interval 

of 4.6 percent (68 researchers) to 10.4 percent (151 researchers). At NIST, the estimated 

number of researchers denied is 3.7 percent (37 researchers), with a confidence interval of 

2.3 percent (23 researchers) to 5.9 percent (58 researchers). At NOAA, the estimated 

number of researchers denied is 6.4 percent (76 researchers), with a confidence interval of 

3.8 percent (45 researchers) to 10.7 percent (127 researchers). For additional details on 

our survey methodology, see appendix I.

Page 26 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
within each NOAA branch office, and within nearly all of the NASA centers 

and NIST laboratories included in our survey.15

Researchers at each agency were given a variety of reasons for the denials, 

but some indicated that they were given no reason. For NASA researchers, 

representing a variety of areas, including aeronautics; biological or life 

sciences; and climate, environment, or atmosphere research, among the 

most common reasons reported for denials was that the information was 

restricted or that the topic discussed or results presented were sensitive. 

The subject of some restricted research involved government classified 

information, or results that were covered by export control regulations. 

For example, one researcher reported his request for dissemination of 

research was denied because of restrictions on dissemination of high 

frequency communications technology. As a result of agency denials, most 

of these NASA researchers gave up trying to disseminate these particular 

results, although some subsequently disseminated the results of their work 

using a different dissemination route. 

Researchers at NIST who had their requests denied also represented a 

range of research areas, including information technology, electrical 

engineering, and physical or chemical sciences. Many of these researchers 

responded that they either were not given a reason for the denial or did 

not know the reason. In these situations, most researchers either found 

another route to disseminate these particular research results or gave up

trying. Other researchers who had requests denied at NIST reported that 

the reasons given for the denial included that the results or topic was 

sensitive or that there was a question about the scientific merit of the 

results. In some of these cases, the researchers were able to disseminate 

their results once they added a disclaimer that the opinions expressed in 

the research results did not reflect the views of the agency. 

At NOAA, researchers who had requests denied represented a diverse 

cadre of research areas, including climate, environment, or atmosphere; 

oceans and coasts; and fisheries and ecosystems. Among the most 

common reasons that researchers reported for the denial of their requests 

to disseminate research were that the topic or results were sensitive and

 15While the number of denials can be generalized to the population, the reasons provided

for the denial, the actions taken as a result, and the field of research cannot be generalized 

to the population. Where we describe the reasons for the denials and actions taken as a 

result in this section, the information only represents the sentiments of individual 

respondents and not the population of the researchers across the three agencies.

Page 27 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
that resources, such as money for travel, were limited. For example, one

researcher reported that his request was denied because there was 

concern that the results might be misinterpreted in light of recent 

hurricane events. In addition, like NIST researchers, many NOAA 

researchers reported that they were not given a reason for the denial or 

did not know the reason. Those who indicated they were denied for 

budgetary reasons had requested funding to travel to a conference, and 

reported that after the denial they disseminated their work through 

another route. Those who said their requests were denied because their 

results were considered sensitive took various steps to obtain subsequent 

approval to disseminate their results, including resubmitting the same or a 

similar document or seeking an alternative dissemination route. Of the 

researchers who either did not know the reason for denial or were not 

given one, most gave up trying to disseminate these particular results. 

While researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA believe that, overall, their 

agencies support dissemination of research results, many believe that their 

agency is more supportive of some dissemination routes than others. We 

estimate that at least 85 percent of researchers at each agency believe that, 

overall, their agency either encourages researchers to disseminate their 

research results or insists that they do so. However, we also found that 

researchers believe that their agency is more supportive of sharing results 

within the scientific community through publications, such as peerreviewed journals, and presentations, than sharing results with the general 

public through media interviews or press releases. Specifically, we 

estimate that 91 percent of researchers at NASA and NOAA and 97 percent

of researchers at NIST believe that their agency supports dissemination of 

research results through publications. However, significantly fewer 

researchers at each agency believe their agency supports dissemination 

through press releases, ranging from 73 percent of researchers at NOAA to 

87 percent at NIST. (See fig. 4.) Similarly, regarding dissemination through 

media interviews, significantly fewer researchers, ranging from 54 percent 

at NOAA to 68 percent at NIST, believe that their agency is supportive of 

this dissemination route. 

Researchers Believe That 

Their Agencies Provide 

Greater Support for 

Dissemination of Research 

through Publications and 

Presentations than through 

Press Releases and Media 

Interviews

Page 28 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Figure 4: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Believe That Their Agency 

Supports Dissemination, by Dissemination Route 

Researchers echoed these sentiments in their comments on ways the 

dissemination of research results works well and how it could be 

improved. Many researchers responded that agency support for 

dissemination was good, particularly for scientific publications and 

presentations, but could be improved for press releases and media 

interviews. For example, one NIST researcher commented that the agency 

has a strong cultural belief in the technical integrity of peer-reviewed 

journals compared with general news media outlets. A NOAA researcher 

said that although his division supported and encouraged original, cuttingedge research and dissemination through scientific literature, he did not

believe that NOAA or Commerce effectively disseminate research results 

to the public or the Congress. Moreover, a representative of a NOAA 

laboratory told us that although the laboratory issues over 100 peerreviewed articles every year, only a few are publicized through press 

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA NIST NOAA

Percentage

Publications

Presentations

Press releases

Media interviews

Confidence interval: displays the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval for

each estimate.

Agency support

Source: GAO survey.

Agency

Page 29 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
releases. In addition, representatives of one NASA center believe that the 

role of public affairs has shifted from help to hindrance, and that some 

requests for press releases announcing contentious research results had 

not been approved by headquarters, sometimes without explanation. In 

addition, several agency managers told us that support for dissemination 

depends on the tone set by senior managers. More specifically, one 

manager said that without commitment and support from agency leaders,

even good policies will not ensure that important research gets 

disseminated. 

According to our survey, over 72 percent of researchers at NIST and 

NOAA believe that their agency consistently applies its dissemination 

policies across all dissemination routes. In contrast, more researchers at 

NASA believe that the agency consistently applies its policies for 

publications than believe the agency consistently applies its policies for 

press releases and media interviews. We estimate that only 67 percent and 

57 percent of researchers believe NASA consistently applies its press 

release and media interview dissemination policies, respectively, as 

opposed to 84 percent and 74 percent, respectively, of researchers who 

believe the agency consistently applies its policy for publications and 

presentations.16 (See fig. 5.) 

In contrast, most researchers at NIST and NOAA believe their agencies 

consistently apply all of their dissemination policies. According to our 

survey, over 85 percent of the researchers within NIST and approximately 

75 percent of the researchers at NOAA believe their agencies consistently 

apply their dissemination policies for publications, presentations, press 

releases, and media interviews. 

Most Researchers 

Generally Believe That 

Dissemination Policies Are 

Consistently Applied 

 16There was no statistical difference between presentations and press releases. 

Page 30 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Figure 5: Estimated Percentage of Researchers Who Believe That Their Agency 

Consistently Applies Policies, by Dissemination Route

According to OSTP, the office does not conduct any scientific research on

its own nor does it formulate or directly oversee the development of 

dissemination policies or decisions at individual agencies. However, OSTP 

told us that it has affirmed to agency leaders the value of science as the 

basis for effective federal action and recognizes the importance of timely, 

complete, and accurate communication of scientific information. 

According to OSTP, the director of the office has on several occasions 

asked the leaders and chief scientists of federal agencies to develop,

revise, or reemphasize their dissemination policies and to ensure that both 

employees and managers understand their rights and obligations under the 

policies. For example, in an April 2006 letter that transmitted copies of 

NASA’s policy to agency chief scientists, the director praised NASA’s 

media policy as a model and cited the Frequently Asked Questions 

supplement as a best practice. In addition, according to OSTP, the director

0

20

40

60

80

100

NASA NIST NOAA

Percentage

Publications

Presentations

Press releases

Media interviews

Confidence interval: displays the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval for

each estimate.

Consistent application

Source: GAO survey.

Agency

OSTP Provides 

Indirect Oversight of 

Agencies’ 

Dissemination 

Policies 

Page 31 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
instructed agencies that federal scientists, like federal employees 

generally, are obliged to distinguish their personal views from the official

positions of their agencies but are in no way to be restricted in their ability 

to openly communicate their scientific findings. 

With regard to disseminating the results of interagency research, OSTP 

sometimes plays a role in notifying agencies when research reports of 

interest are published by another agency, and it will disseminate research 

results to members of various National Science and Technology Council 

committees, subcommittees, and working groups, according to OSTP 

officials. For example, to ensure accuracy and readability, OSTP reviews 

interagency reports on the scale, quality, and effectiveness of the federal

science and technology effort as well as all reports from interagency 

working groups and task forces. In addition, OSTP may, at its own 

initiative or in response to an agency’s request, review presentations 

developed by individual agencies that are based on interagency reports. 

According to OSTP, the office is part of the interagency review process 

when federal scientists testify before Congress, and, accordingly, OSTP 

officials review all of the statements prepared by federal scientists who 

are testifying in their official capacities. Regarding presentations and 

articles prepared by OSTP employees, OSTP officials told us that the office

has a process by which these presentations and articles are reviewed and 

for making decisions about whether its employees can participate in 

policy-related media interviews. 

In discussing OSTP’s role with NASA, NIST, and NOAA public affairs 

officials, we found that some of these agencies may inform OSTP of 

certain dissemination events, but their policies do not call for routine 

OSTP review or approval. For example, Commerce and NOAA public 

affairs officials told us that OSTP often receives informational copies of 

press releases that are particularly sensitive or involve regulatory issues. 

More and more of the major policy debates of the day hinge on the results 

of scientific research. Therefore, timely and thorough dissemination of 

research results within the research community and to the public at large 

is crucial. To help ensure that this kind of dissemination is taking place, 

NASA, NIST, and NOAA have each taken some steps to develop policies to

guide the dissemination of research through publications and 

presentations for the scientific community. However, the lack of clarity 

and consistency in the application of agency-level policies for requests to 

disseminate research to the public through press releases and media 

interviews continues to generate significant concern among some agency

Conclusions 

Page 32 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
researchers, such as those at NASA. For researchers at NIST and NOAA, 

this situation is further exacerbated because they must comply with 

Commerce’s outdated and unrealistic department-level policies, which can

further impede the dissemination of research results through media 

interviews and press releases. Moreover, when disputes arise about an 

agency’s decision regarding a dissemination request, few researchers are 

aware of the dispute resolution processes that exist within their agency. 

To some extent, this situation may have been partly caused by a lack of 

formal training provided by the agencies on the dissemination and dispute 

resolution policies to their research staff. Instead most researchers at 

these agencies learn about their agency’s policies through informal means 

and, therefore, are not particularly confident that they know how to 

comply with all of them. 

To ensure that the policies to guide researchers and public affairs officials 

in their efforts to disseminate research to the scientific community and the 

public are clear, transparent, consistently applied, and completely 

understood, we recommend that the Secretary of Commerce and the 

NOAA Administrator each take the following action: 

• Clarify their policies for disseminating research results via press releases 

and media interviews. 

To ensure that (1) researchers have a clear process to follow for appealing 

decisions regarding dissemination of research results and (2) all 

researchers are aware of and understand how to comply with their 

agencies’ policies for disseminating research, we recommend that the 

Secretary of Commerce, the NASA Administrator, the NIST Director, and 

the NOAA Administrator each take the following two actions: 

• Review their dissemination policies and ensure that they clearly identify a 

process by which researchers can appeal dissemination decisions. 

• Provide formal training to inform, reinforce, and update managers, 

researchers, and public affairs staff on these policies. 

We provided Commerce, NASA, NIST, NOAA, and OSTP with a copy of 

this report for review and comment. Commerce, on behalf of NIST, NOAA, 

and itself, generally concurred with our findings and recommendations. In 

its letter, Commerce noted that the draft report highlighted some ongoing

challenges for the department, NIST, and NOAA that they will address. 

Furthermore, in an addendum from NOAA, the agency stated that it is 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action 

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation 

Page 33 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
updating its public communications policies to ensure consistent 

understanding by researchers and public affairs officials. In addition, NIST 

suggested some technical changes that we have incorporated in this report 

as appropriate. NASA also concurred with the recommendations we made 

to the agency. In its letter, NASA stated that it plans to direct the Chief of 

Strategic Communications and the Assistant Administrator for Public 

Affairs to, among other things, review its current dissemination policies to

ensure they clearly identify a process for appealing dissemination 

decisions and to provide biannual training to reinforce dissemination 

guidelines. Finally, OSTP generally agreed with the report’s 

recommendations made to Commerce, NASA, NIST, and NOAA. The office 

commented that the report is fair and accurately describes OSTP and its 

role in this area. The comment letters from Commerce, NASA, and OSTP 

appear in appendixes III through V. 

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of

this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from the 

report date. At that time, we will send copies to interested congressional 

committees and Members of Congress, the Secretary of Commerce, the 

NASA Administrator, the NIST Director, and the NOAA Administrator. We 

also will make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the 

report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at 

http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have questions about this report, please contact me at

(202) 512-3841 or mittala@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page 

of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are 

listed in appendix VI. 

Sincerely yours, 

Ms. Anu Mittal 

Ms. Anu K. Mittal 

Director, Natural Resources 

 and Environment 

Page 34 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 

Methodology 

Our objectives for this review were to (1) identify and evaluate the policies 

that guide the dissemination of federal research results at the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); (2) determine how effectively the

dissemination and dispute resolution policies of these agencies have been

communicated to researchers; (3) determine the extent to which 

researchers at these agencies have experienced restrictions on the 

dissemination of their research results, and (4) provide an overview of the 

role of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in helping 

agencies develop and implement policies related to the dissemination of 

research results. 

To identify and evaluate the policies that guide the dissemination of 

federally funded research results at NASA, NIST, and NOAA, we obtained, 

reviewed, and analyzed the dissemination policies for these agencies, in

addition to relevant policies from the Department of Commerce. In 

addition, we spoke with managers and researchers at NASA, NIST, and 

NOAA as well as public affairs officials at each of these agencies and 

Commerce. Specifically, at NASA, we spoke with managers at each of nine 

research, space, and space flight centers, public affairs officials from 

NASA headquarters and the four largest centers in terms of researchers 

who would be in a position to disseminate research, and the agency’s 

Chief of Staff.1

 At NIST, we spoke with agency officials, including the Chief 

of Staff, the program office director, and the director of the public and 

business affairs office. At NOAA, we spoke with managers in each of the 

NOAA program offices, as well as each of the laboratories in the Oceanic

and Atmospheric Research program office and each of the National 

Marine Fisheries Service fisheries science centers.2

 We also spoke with 

 1

The NASA centers included in this review were the Ames Research Center, Dryden Flight 

Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space 

Center, Kennedy Space Center, Langley Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and

Stennis Space Center. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the 10th NASA center, was scoped 

out of this review because research at this center is primarily performed by contract 

researchers. 

2

The NOAA program offices we spoke with and included in our scope were the Office of

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and 

Information Service; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; 

and the National Weather Service. We also spoke with managers in the NOAA Office of

Marine and Aviation Operations and the Office of Program Planning and Integration, but 

these offices were removed from our scope because they did not have researchers who 

would be in a position to disseminate research. 

Page 35 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

public affairs officials in each of the NOAA program offices. We followed a 

standard set of questions for each of these interviews, confirmed that we 

had copies of the relevant dissemination policies, and discussed at length 

the ways in which these policies were put into practice. 

To determine how effectively the dissemination and dispute resolution 

policies have been communicated to researchers and to determine the 

extent to which researchers at these agencies had experienced restrictions 

on the dissemination of their research, we conducted a Web-based survey 

of a stratified random sample of 1,811 researchers across scientific and 

engineering disciplines at NASA, NIST, and NOAA. This sample included

578 NASA researchers, 699 NIST researchers, and 534 NOAA researchers. 

We selected these researchers from among the 1,794 researchers at NASA, 

1,337 researchers at NIST, and 1,815 researchers at NOAA. Overall, we 

received a 66 percent response rate to our survey, for a total of 1,177 

respondents. We stratified by agency subcomponent—such as the NASA 

center, NIST laboratory, and NOAA program office—and produced 

estimates at the agency level. Each subcomponent has a known nonzero 

probability of being selected, and each subcomponent is weighted in the 

analysis to account statistically for all subcomponents in the population, 

including those that were not selected. We sought the researchers’ views 

on their agency’s research dissemination policies, the level of agency 

support for dissemination, and their experiences with dissemination. In 

addition, we asked the researchers to provide examples of ways in which

dissemination of results works well and ways in which it could be 

improved. We defined researchers to be included in our population as 

federally employed scientists, engineers, or other researchers who are in a 

position to disseminate their research results to a wider audience. To

identify these names, we asked center or program managers at NASA, 

NIST, and NOAA to provide a list of researchers in their organization who 

would meet our defined criterion. We cross-referenced this list with other 

published lists of researchers in each facility, where available. We further 

refined the list by sending out notification e-mails that allowed recipients 

who did not meet our criteria to notify us prior to issuing the survey. 

Information about accessing the survey was provided via e-mail for all 

survey participants. The survey was activated, and researchers were 

informed of its availability on November 16, 2006; it was available through

December 31, 2006. To ensure security and data integrity, we provided all 

participants with a user name and a personal password that allowed them 

to access and complete the survey. No one else could access that survey or 

edit its data. To reduce survey nonresponse, we sent out e-mail reminder 

messages and a contractor was used to make follow-up telephone calls to

Page 36 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

all nonrespondants to encourage them to complete the survey. From the 

initial notification, we identified 21 individuals who were outside the 

target population. For example, some individuals had retired from the 

agency. In all, we received a 66 percent response rate. Response rates for 

our survey population by agency were as follows: NASA, 63.6 percent; 

NIST, 61.5 percent; and NOAA, 73.7 percent. 

All sample surveys are subject to sampling error—that is, the extent to 

which the survey results differ from what would have been obtained if the 

whole population had been observed. Measures of sampling error are 

defined by two elements, the width of the confidence intervals around the 

estimate (sometimes called the precision of the estimate) and the 

confidence level at which the intervals are computed. Because we 

followed a probability procedure based on random selections, our sample 

is only one of a large number of samples that we might have drawn. 

Because each sample could have provided different estimates, we 

expressed our confidence in the precision of our particular sample’s 

results as a 95 percent confidence interval. This is the interval that would 

contain the actual population value for 95 percent of the samples we could 

have drawn. As a result, we are 95 percent confident that each of the 

confidence intervals based on the survey includes the true values in the 

sample population. Unless otherwise noted, all percentage estimates have 

a 95 percent confidence interval within plus or minus 8 percentage points. 

The 95 percent confidence intervals for numeric estimates are presented 

along with those estimates in the body of the report. In addition, any 

comparison between point estimates is statistically significant at the 0.05 

level, unless otherwise noted. In some instances, we used general 

modifiers (i.e., few, some, many, and most) to characterize percentage

point estimates or to indicate the number of center or office managers 

who made a particular statement. We used the following method to assign 

these modifiers to our statements: “few” represents less than 10 percent of 

respondents or managers representing centers or offices, “some” or 

“many” represents 10 to 50 percent of respondents or managers 

representing centers or offices, and “most” represents over 50 percent of 

respondents or managers representing centers or offices. These ranges do

not represent a standard; rather, we assigned these numeric ranges on the 

basis of natural breaks in our data. In all cases where we use these 

modifiers to characterize point estimates from our survey, their use 

implies statistical significance. For example, where we use the term 

“most,” the lower bound of the confidence interval of the point estimate is 

greater than 50 percent. 

Page 37 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

Regarding the survey data on instances in which researchers were denied

the opportunity to disseminate, the percentage of researchers reporting 

such instances can be generalized to the population. However, because the 

number of denials is small, the details concerning the reason for denial, 

the researcher’s primary field of research, and the actions taken in 

response to the denial cannot be generalized. Because the issue of a 

researcher being denied is a salient piece of our analysis, we included this

nongeneralizable information to provide context to this important issue. 

To analyze select, open-ended questions on our survey, including those 

given as the reason researchers said they were denied, we conducted a

content analysis to develop our agreement statistics. Reviewers (two per 

question) collaboratively developed content categories based on survey 

responses, and then independently assessed and coded each survey 

response into those categories. Intercoder reliability (agreement) statistics 

were electronically generated in the coding process, and agreement 

statistics for all categories were 90 percent or above. Coding

disagreements were resolved through reviewer discussion or a third-party 

arbiter. 

In addition to the reported sampling errors, as previously indicated, the 

practical difficulties of conducting any survey may introduce errors, 

commonly referred to as “nonsampling errors.” For example, differences 

in how a particular question is interpreted, the information sources 

available to respondents, or the types of sample members who do not 

respond can introduce unwanted variability into the survey results. Our 

estimation method assumes that nonrespondents are missing at random. If 

characteristics of respondents are different than nonrespondents on key 

items, it could introduce a bias not accounted for in our analysis. We took 

extensive steps in questionnaire development, data collection, and the 

editing and analysis of the survey data to minimize nonsampling errors. 

For example, the survey was developed by a GAO survey specialist in 

conjunction with subject matter experts, and then reviewed by a second,

independent survey specialist. In addition, we pretested the survey by 

telephone with researchers from all three agencies. During these pretests, 

we asked each researcher to complete the survey as they would when they 

received it. We then interviewed the respondents to ensure that (1) the 

questions were clear and unambiguous, (2) the terms used were precise, 

(3) the survey did not place an undue burden on the researchers 

completing it, and (4) the survey was independent and unbiased. On the 

basis of the feedback from the pretests, we revised the questions, as 

appropriate. The SAS and SUDAAN programs that produced our survey 

estimates, including estimates of categories derived from content analysis, 

Page 38 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and 

Methodology 

were reviewed by a second, independent programmer to ensure accuracy

in the logic and syntax of the program. 

To determine OSTP’s role in helping agencies develop and implement 

policies for the dissemination of research results, we submitted written 

questions. They subsequently replied to these questions in writing. 

We conducted our work from June 2006 through March 2007 in

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Page 39 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

The following tables contain summary results of selected questions from 

our survey of researchers at NASA, NIST, and NOAA. For each question 

reported below, the estimated percentage is presented along with its 95 

percent confidence interval. These tables do not include summary-level 

data for the demographic questions and do not include the results from 

any open-ended questions. 

Q8. Overall, how familiar or unfamiliar are you with the policies that your agency currently has in place regarding the dissemination of 

research results outside of the agency?

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

Familiar 87.2 84.9-89.2

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Familiar 12.8 10.8-15.1

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Familiar 91.9 88.4-94.3

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Familiar 8.1 5.7-11.6

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

Familiar 85.4 81.8-88.4

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Familiar 14.6 11.6-18.2

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Familiar 83.6 78.6-87.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Familiar 16.4 12.3-21.4

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

a. Formal training sessions 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 21.6 19.3-24.1

Total No 61.6 58.6-64.5

Total Not sure 16.8 14.5-19.4

Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for 

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Page 40 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NASA Yes 32.0 27.3-37.2

NASA No 49.5 44.2-54.8

NASA Not sure 18.5 14.6-23.2

NIST Yes 23.6 20.0-27.7

NIST No 54.8 50.3-59.2

NIST Not sure 21.6 18.1-25.5

NOAA Yes 9.4 6.7-13.1

NOAA No 79.0 73.5-83.6

NOAA Not sure 11.6 8.0-16.6

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

b. On-the-job training (including mentoring) 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 67.9 64.8-70.9

Total No 24.3 21.7-27.2

Total Not sure 7.8 6.2-9.7

NASA Yes 69.2 64.1-73.8

NASA No 21.8 17.8-26.4

NASA Not sure 9.0 6.4-12.6

NIST Yes 78.7 74.8-82.1

NIST No 13.3 10.6-16.6

NIST Not sure 8.0 5.8-10.9

NOAA Yes 58.6 52.3-64.6

NOAA No 35.2 29.5-41.3

NOAA Not sure 6.2 3.8-10.2

Page 41 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

c. Staff or town hall meetings 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 40.7 37.8-43.8

Total No 43.3 40.2-46.4

Total Not sure 16.0 13.7-18.5

NASA Yes 48.2 42.9-53.6

NASA No 34.4 29.5-39.5

NASA Not sure 17.4 13.7-22.0

NIST Yes 49.2 44.7-53.7

NIST No 32.3 28.2-36.6

NIST Not sure 18.5 15.4-22.1

NOAA Yes 26.9 22.0-32.4

NOAA No 60.6 54.4-66.4

NOAA Not sure 12.6 8.8-17.6

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

d. E-mails or other correspondence from [AGENCY] Administrator-level offices sent to all staff 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 65.3 62.2-68.3

Total No 19.3 16.9-21.9

Total Not sure 15.4 13.2-17.9

NASA Yes 62.5 57.3-67.4

NASA No 21.8 17.7-26.4

NASA Not sure 15.8 12.2-20.2

NIST Yes 66.0 61.7-70.1

NIST No 17.9 14.7-21.5

NIST Not sure 16.1 13.1-19.7

NOAA Yes 67.7 61.6-73.2

NOAA No 17.8 13.6-23.1

NOAA Not sure 14.5 10.5-19.6

Page 42 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

e. E-mails or other correspondence from Center or Office management sent to all Center or Office staff 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 70.9 68.2-73.5

Total No 14.7 12.8-16.9

Total Not sure 14.3 12.4-16.6

NASA Yes 78.5 74.0-82.3

NASA No 11.6 9.0-14.8

NASA Not sure 9.9 7.1-13.7

NIST Yes 54.7 50.2-59.1

NIST No 21.6 18.2-25.5

NIST Not sure 23.7 20.1-27.7

NOAA Yes 74.7 69.3-79.5

NOAA No 13.0 9.6-17.4

NOAA Not sure 12.2 8.9-16.6

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

f. Notifications on internal agency websites 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 47.2 44.0-50.4

Total No 26.1 23.3-29.0

Total Not sure 26.8 24.0-29.7

NASA Yes 50.7 45.3-56.0

NASA No 22.0 18.1-26.5

NASA Not sure 27.4 22.8-32.4

NIST Yes 55.8 51.3-60.2

NIST No 20.6 17.1-24.5

NIST Not sure 23.7 20.0-27.8

NOAA Yes 37.2 31.2-43.7

NOAA No 34.4 28.6-40.7

NOAA Not sure 28.4 23.2-34.3

Page 43 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q9. Has your agency used any of the following means to help you understand how to comply with its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results outside of the agency? 

g. Other - Please specify below. 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 18.2 14.3-22.9

Total No 44.8 39.2-50.4

Total Not sure 37.0 31.6-42.7

NASA Yes 22.1 15.2-31.0

NASA No 40.6 32.1-49.7

NASA Not sure 37.3 28.6-47.0

NIST Yes 18.7 13.3-25.6

NIST No 42.5 35.1-50.2

NIST Not sure 38.8 31.7-46.5

NOAA Yes 13.7 7.8-22.9

NOAA No 51.1 39.8-62.3

NOAA Not sure 35.2 25.1-46.8

Q10. Overall, how effective or ineffective have your agency's efforts been to help you understand how to comply with its policies 

regarding dissemination of research results though each of the following routes? 

a. Publications (such as peer reviewed publications or non-peer reviewed publications) 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 91.9 90.1-93.3

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 8.1 6.7-9.9

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 90.6 87.2-93.1

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 9.4 6.9-12.8

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 93.7 91.1-95.6

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 6.3 4.4-8.9

Page 44 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 91.9 88.5-94.4

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 8.1 5.6-11.5

Q10. Overall, how effective or ineffective have your agency's efforts been to help you understand how to comply with its policies 

regarding dissemination of research results though each of the following routes? 

b. Presentations (such as keynote addresses, conferences, workshops, symposia, professional society meetings, or Congressional 

hearings) 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 86.4 83.9-88.5

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 13.6 11.5-16.1

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 88.0 84.1-91.0

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 12.0 9.0-15.9

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 88.6 85.2-91.3

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 11.4 8.7-14.8

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 83.2 78.0-87.4

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 16.8 12.6-22.0

Page 45 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q10. Overall, how effective or ineffective have your agency’s efforts been to help you understand how to comply with its policies 

regarding dissemination of research results though each of the following routes? 

c. Agency releases (such as press releases, web posting on an agency website, or agency reports or fact sheets) 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 82.9 80.1-85.4

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 17.1 14.6-19.9

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 80.8 75.4-85.2

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 19.2 14.8-24.6

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 84.8 80.8-88.1

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 15.2 11.9-19.2

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 83.5 78.3-87.6

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 16.5 12.4-21.7

Q10. Overall, how effective or ineffective have your agency’s efforts been to help you understand how to comply with its policies 

regarding dissemination of research results though each of the following routes? 

d. Media interviews 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 78.7 75.4-81.7

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 21.3 18.3-24.6

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 73.0 66.8-78.4

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 27.0 21.6-33.2

Page 46 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 85.0 80.8-88.5

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 15.0 11.5-19.2

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 79.0 72.9-84.1

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 21.0 15.9-27.1

Q10. Overall, how effective or ineffective have your agency’s efforts been to help you understand how to comply with its policies 

regarding dissemination of research results though each of the following routes? 

e. Other - Please specify below. 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 62.9 43.9-78.6

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 37.1 21.4-56.1

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 61.2 31.3-84.5

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 38.8 15.5-68.7

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 90.1 61.5-98.1

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 9.9 1.9-38.5

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 38.1 15.3-67.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 61.9 32.3-84.7

Page 47 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q11. Regardless of how effective or ineffective your agency’s efforts have been, how confident, if at all, are you that you understand 

your agency’s policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes well enough to follow them? 

a. Publications

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 89.8 87.7-91.5

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 10.2 8.5-12.3

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 90.3 86.8-93.0

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 9.7 7.0-13.2

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 91.7 88.8-93.9

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 8.3 6.1-11.2

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 87.8 83.4-91.1

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 12.2 8.9-16.6

Q11. Regardless of how effective or ineffective your agency’s efforts have been, how confident, if at all, are you that you understand 

your agency’s policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes well enough to follow them? 

b. Presentations

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 85.8 83.3-88.0

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 14.2 12.0-16.7

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 88.3 84.4-91.4

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 11.7 8.6-15.6

Page 48 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 88.3 85.0-91.0

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 11.7 9.0-15.0

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 81.4 76.0-85.9

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 18.6 14.1-24.0

Q11. Regardless of how effective or ineffective your agency’s efforts have been, how confident, if at all, are you that you understand 

your agency’s policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes well enough to follow them? 

c. Agency releases 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 66.2 62.8-69.5

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 33.8 30.5-37.2

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 60.9 54.9-66.6

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 39.1 33.4-45.1

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 75.1 70.6-79.1

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 24.9 20.9-29.4

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 64.8 58.3-70.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 35.2 29.3-41.7

Page 49 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q11. Regardless of how effective or ineffective your agency's efforts have been, how confident, if at all, are you that you understand 

your agency’s policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes well enough to follow them? 

d. Media interviews 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 63.1 59.6-66.5

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 36.9 33.5-40.4

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 55.1 49.0-61.0

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 44.9 39.0-51.0

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 74.7 70.1-78.7

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 25.3 21.3-29.9

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 62.4 55.8-68.6

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 37.6 31.4-44.2

Q11. Regardless of how effective or ineffective your agency’s efforts have been, how confident, if at all, are you that you understand 

your agency’s policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes well enough to follow them? 

e. Other - Please specify below. 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 54.5 35.6-72.2

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 45.5 27.8-64.4

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 32.2 10.3-66.3

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 67.8 33.7-89.7

Page 50 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 63.3 35.9-84.2

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 36.7 15.8-64.1

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

confident 67.6 30.9-90.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at all confident 32.4 9.3-69.1

Q12. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does your NASA Center, NIST Laboratory, or NOAA Branch/Line 

Office apply its policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

a.Publications 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 90.5 88.2-92.3

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 3.4 2.4-4.9

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 6.1 4.6-8.0

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 91.4 88.1-93.8

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 3.2 1.8-5.4

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 5.4 3.5-8.3

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 95.7 93.2-97.3

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 1.4 0.7-2.8

Page 51 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 2.9 1.6-5.3

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 85.5 80.3-89.6

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 5.2 3.0-9.0

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 9.2 6.1-13.8

Q12. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does your NASA Center, NIST Laboratory, or NOAA Branch/Line 

Office apply its policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

b. Presentations

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 80.5 77.6-83.1

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.6 8.7-13.0

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 8.9 7.1-11.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 80.3 75.6-84.3

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 9.1 6.4-12.7

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 10.6 7.7-14.5

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 85.9 82.2-88.9

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.2 7.6-13.4

Page 52 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 4.0 2.4-6.4

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 76.9 70.8-82.0

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 12.8 8.9-18.0

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 10.3 7.0-15.0

Q12. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does your NASA Center, NIST Laboratory, or NOAA Branch/Line 

Office apply its policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

c. Agency releases 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 80.9 77.4-83.9

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.5 8.1-13.4

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 8.7 6.7-11.2

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 71.3 64.4-77.4

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 15.9 11.3-21.8

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 12.8 8.6-18.5

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 94.5 91.4-96.5

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 2.8 1.5-5.0

Page 53 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 2.7 1.4-5.4

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 80.0 73.9-84.9

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.9 7.1-16.4

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 9.1 6.2-13.2

Q12. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does your NASA Center, NIST Laboratory, or NOAA Branch/Line 

Office apply its policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

d. Media interviews 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 74.9 71.0-78.4

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 12.4 9.9-15.5

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 12.7 10.1-15.8

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 62.3 54.9-69.1

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 16.0 11.5-21.9

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 21.7 16.1-28.6

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 89.7 85.5-92.8

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 6.6 4.3-10.1

Page 54 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 3.7 2.0-6.8

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 75.4 68.6-81.2

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 13.2 8.9-19.1

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 11.4 7.6-16.7

Q12. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does your NASA Center, NIST Laboratory, or NOAA Branch/Line 

Office apply its policies regarding the dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

e. Other - Please specify below. 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 56.0 36.9-73.4

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.0 1.7-42.0

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 34.0 19.9-51.7

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 50.8 20.6-80.4

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 21.5 3.7-66.4

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 27.7 9.4-58.8

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 71.8 46.3-88.3

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 0.0 

Page 55 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 28.2 11.7-53.7

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 44.6 19.4-72.9

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 0.0 

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 55.4 27.1-80.6

Q13. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does [AGENCY] as a whole apply its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

a. Publications

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 85.6 82.8-88.0

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 5.1 3.7-6.9

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 9.4 7.4-11.8

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 83.8 79.1-87.7

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 4.3 2.5-7.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 11.9 8.6-16.3

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 95.1 92.4-96.9

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 1.2 0.5-2.6

Page 56 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 3.7 2.1-6.3

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 78.9 72.4-84.2

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 9.8 6.4-14.7

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 11.3 7.4-16.9

Q13. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does [AGENCY] as a whole apply its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

b. Presentations

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 77.2 74.0-80.1

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 11.7 9.6-14.3

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 11.1 8.9-13.7

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 73.5 68.0-78.4

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 12.2 8.8-16.8

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 14.2 10.5-19.0

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 86.0 82.3-89.1

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.2 7.6-13.6

Page 57 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 3.8 2.3-6.1

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 74.1 67.3-79.8

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 12.4 8.5-17.8

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 13.5 9.3-19.2

Q13. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does [AGENCY] as a whole apply its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

c. Agency releases 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 76.7 72.9-80.1

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 8.9 6.8-11.6

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 14.4 11.6-17.7

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 66.9 59.7-73.3

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.9 7.0-16.5

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 22.2 16.8-28.9

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 93.4 90.1-95.7

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 4.6 2.7-7.6

Page 58 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 2.0 1.0-4.1

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 72.7 65.3-79.1

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 10.6 7.0-15.8

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 16.6 11.6-23.4

Q13. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does [AGENCY] as a whole apply its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

d. Media interviews 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 73.4 69.5-77.0

Total 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 8.1 6.3-10.5

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 18.4 15.2-22.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 57.1 49.5-64.4

NASA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 12.1 8.0-18.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 30.8 24.2-38.2

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 89.1 84.7-92.3

NIST 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 7.6 5.1-11.3

Page 59 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 3.3 1.7-6.5

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 76.8 70.0-82.5

NOAA 

Neither 

Consistent Nor

Inconsistent 4.7 3.0-7.3

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 18.5 13.2-25.1

Q13. Overall, in your opinion, how consistently or inconsistently does [AGENCY] as a whole apply its policies regarding the 

dissemination of research results through each of the following routes? 

e. Other - Please specify below. 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 60.6 38.4-79.1

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 39.4 20.9-61.6

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 26.4 4.2-74.6

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 73.6 25.4-95.8

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 92.9 73.8-98.4

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 7.1 1.6-26.2

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Consistent 32.2 11.0-64.6

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Inconsistent 67.8 35.4-89.0

Page 60 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q14. Overall, do you believe your agency’s dissemination policies are effective or ineffective in ensuring access to the results of 

research conducted at your agency?

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 90.0 87.7-91.8

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 10.0 8.2-12.3

NASA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 88.8 85.1-91.6

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 11.2 8.4-14.9

NIST 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 95.8 93.4-97.4

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 4.2 2.6-6.6

NOAA 

Extremely to 

Moderately 

Effective 87.0 82.1-90.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All Effective 13.0 9.3-17.9

Q15. How supportive, if at all, is your agency toward disseminating research results through each of the following routes? 

a. Through publications such as peer reviewed journals, or non-peer reviewed journals 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 92.7 90.7-94.2

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 7.3 5.8-9.3

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 91.2 87.6-93.8

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 8.8 6.2-12.4

Page 61 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 97.2 95.3-98.3

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 2.8 1.7-4.7

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 91.0 87.0-93.9

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 9.0 6.1-13.0

Q15. How supportive, if at all, is your agency toward disseminating research results through each of the following routes? 

b. Through presentations, such as at conferences or at congressional hearings 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 92.1 90.0-93.8

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 7.9 6.2-10.0

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 91.6 88.1-94.2

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 8.4 5.8-11.9

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 96.1 94.0-97.5

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 3.9 2.5-6.0

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 89.8 85.1-93.0

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 10.2 7.0-14.9

Page 62 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q15. How supportive, if at all, is your agency toward disseminating research results through each of the following routes? 

c. Through agency releases, such as press releases, web postings, and agency reports and fact sheets 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 77.7 74.3-80.7

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 22.3 19.3-25.7

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 75.5 69.6-80.5

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 24.5 19.5-30.4

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 87.0 83.1-90.1

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 13.0 9.9-16.9

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 73.0 66.4-78.7

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 27.0 21.3-33.6

Q15. How supportive, if at all, is your agency toward disseminating research results through each of the following routes? 

d. Through interviews with media 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 60.2 56.0-64.3

Total 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 39.8 35.7-44.0

NASA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 61.8 54.8-68.3

Page 63 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NASA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 38.2 31.7-45.2

NIST 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 68.2 62.4-73.5

NIST 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 31.8 26.5-37.6

NOAA 

Very or 

Moderately 

Supportive 54.2 46.6-61.6

NOAA 

Slightly or Not 

at All 

Supportive 45.8 38.4-53.4

Q16. Overall, which one of the following statements best characterizes the extent to which your agency supports the dissemination of 

research results? 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Insists on / 

Encourages 

Dissemination 89.1 86.8-90.9

Total 

Neither 

Encourages 

nor 

Discourages 7.7 6.2-9.6

Total 

Discourages / 

Does Not Allow

Dissemination 1.6 0.9-2.8

Total Not sure 1.7 1.0-2.7

NASA 

Insists on / 

Encourages 

Dissemination 88.6 84.8-91.5

NASA 

Neither 

Encourages 

nor 

Discourages 9.5 6.7-13.1

NASA 

Discourages / 

Does Not Allow

Dissemination 1.3 0.7-2.6

NASA Not sure 0.7 0.2-2.7

Page 64 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Insists on / 

Encourages 

Dissemination 95.8 93.7-97.3

NIST 

Neither 

Encourages 

nor 

Discourages 1.9 1.0-3.4

NIST 

Discourages / 

Does Not Allow

Dissemination 0.0 

NIST Not sure 2.3 1.3-4.2

NOAA 

Insists on / 

Encourages 

Dissemination 84.6 79.8-88.4

NOAA 

Neither 

Encourages 

nor 

Discourages 10.2 7.3-14.0

NOAA 

Discourages / 

Does Not Allow

Dissemination 3.0 1.3-6.6

NOAA Not sure 2.2 1.0-5.0

Q17. Does your area of research have the potential to impact federal policy decisions? 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 38.8 36.0-41.6

Total No 37.5 34.8-40.3

Total Not sure 23.7 21.3-26.4

NASA Yes 25.3 21.0-30.1

NASA No 48.7 43.6-53.9

NASA Not sure 26.0 21.6-31.0

NIST Yes 22.5 19.1-26.3

NIST No 44.1 39.8-48.4

NIST Not sure 33.5 29.5-37.7

NOAA Yes 64.9 59.3-70.1

NOAA No 20.9 16.8-25.7

NOAA Not sure 14.2 10.6-18.7

Page 65 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q18. When disseminating research results that have potential federal policy implications, does each of the following statements

correctly or not correctly represent your agency's position on discussing these research results? 

a. I can discuss research results with potential policy implications when the results are consistent with the agency's policy or position 

statements. 

[If Question 17 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 68.9 63.2-74.1

Total 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 12.3 8.9-16.9

Total Not sure 18.8 14.5-23.9

NASA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 71.3 60.4-80.1

NASA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 11.7 6.2-21.2

NASA Not sure 17.0 10.1-27.2

NIST 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 67.7 58.0-76.1

NIST 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 7.8 3.9-14.9

NIST Not sure 24.5 17.0-34.0

NOAA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 68.3 60.1-75.4

NOAA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 13.7 8.9-20.4

NOAA Not sure 18.1 12.4-25.5

Page 66 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q18. When disseminating research results that have potential federal policy implications, does each of the following statements

correctly or not correctly represent your agency's position on discussing these research results? 

b. I can discuss research results with potential policy implications when the results differ from the agency's policy or position 

statements. 

[If Question 17 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 37.4 31.9-43.1

Total 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 22.6 18.3-27.6

Total Not sure 40.0 34.4-45.9

NASA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 35.0 25.8-45.5

NASA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 29.5 20.8-40.1

NASA Not sure 35.5 26.0-46.2

NIST 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 32.1 23.7-41.7

NIST 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 22.9 15.8-32.0

NIST Not sure 45.0 35.4-54.9

NOAA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 39.6 31.9-47.8

NOAA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 19.8 14.4-26.7

NOAA Not sure 40.6 32.8-48.9

Page 67 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q18. When disseminating research results that have potential federal policy implications, does each of the following statements

correctly or not correctly represent your agency's position on discussing these research results? 

c. I can discuss research results with potential policy implications on issues for which my agency does not have a policy or position 

statement. 

[If Question 17 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 53.9 48.1-59.6

Total 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 10.5 7.5-14.5

Total Not sure 35.6 30.2-41.4

NASA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 61.0 50.3-70.7

NASA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 10.5 5.1-20.2

NASA Not sure 28.5 20.0-39.0

NIST 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 47.7 38.1-57.4

NIST 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 11.7 6.8-19.5

NIST Not sure 40.6 31.3-50.6

NOAA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 52.7 44.4-60.7

NOAA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 10.2 6.3-16.0

NOAA Not sure 37.1 29.5-45.5

Page 68 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q18. When disseminating research results that have potential federal policy implications, does each of the following statements

correctly or not correctly represent your agency's position on discussing these research results? 

d. I can discuss potential policy implications of research results provided that I state the policy implications as my personal views and 

not those of the agency. 

[If Question 17 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 40.3 34.8-46.0

Total 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 17.3 13.3-22.1

Total Not sure 42.4 36.8-48.3

NASA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 48.6 38.4-59.0

NASA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 11.6 6.8-18.9

NASA Not sure 39.8 30.0-50.5

NIST 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 24.3 17.1-33.2

NIST 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 26.9 19.1-36.6

NIST Not sure 48.8 39.1-58.6

NOAA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 40.8 33.2-49.0

NOAA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 17.2 11.7-24.5

NOAA Not sure 42.0 34.1-50.3

Page 69 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q18. When disseminating research results that have potential federal policy implications, does each of the following statements

correctly or not correctly represent your agency's position on discussing these research results? 

e. I am not allowed to discuss the potential policy implications of research results. 

[If Question 17 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 10.5 7.2-15.0

Total 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 50.2 44.4-56.1

Total Not sure 39.3 33.6-45.3

NASA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 3.4 1.2-9.0

NASA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 57.7 46.9-67.9

NASA Not sure 38.9 29.0-49.8

NIST 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 11.7 6.4-20.3

NIST 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 46.2 36.6-56.0

NIST Not sure 42.2 32.8-52.2

NOAA 

Statement 

Represents 

Policy 13.1 8.2-20.3

NOAA 

Statement 

Does NOT

Represent 

Policy 48.1 39.9-56.5

NOAA Not sure 38.7 30.7-47.4

Page 70 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q19. In the past 5 years, have you sought to disseminate the results of your own scientific research outside of the agency? 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 86.1 83.6-88.2

Total No 13.9 11.8-16.4

NASA Yes 90.6 87.1-93.2

NASA No 9.4 6.8-12.9

NIST Yes 88.1 84.8-90.8

NIST No 11.9 9.2-15.2

NOAA Yes 80.0 74.4-84.6

NOAA No 20.0 15.4-25.6

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

a. I don’t conduct research that requires dissemination 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 19.1 12.9-27.4

Total Not checked 80.9 72.6-87.1

NASA Checked 15.0 5.9-33.3

NASA Not checked 85.0 66.7-94.1

NIST Checked 15.8 8.5-27.5

NIST Not checked 84.2 72.5-91.5

NOAA Checked 22.5 13.0-36.1

NOAA Not checked 77.5 63.9-87.0

Page 71 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency 

b. I don’t conduct my own research 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 25.9 18.7-34.7

Total Not checked 74.1 65.3-81.3

NASA Checked 14.6 7.6-26.3

NASA Not checked 85.4 73.7-92.4

NIST Checked 18.8 11.2-29.9

NIST Not checked 81.2 70.1-88.8

NOAA Checked 34.5 22.3-49.0

NOAA Not checked 65.5 51.0-77.7

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

c. Someone else disseminates research results on my behalf 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 18.4 12.3-26.5

Total Not checked 81.6 73.5-87.7

NASA Checked 32.5 18.2-51.0

NASA Not checked 67.5 49.0-81.8

NIST Checked 19.8 11.1-32.7

NIST Not checked 80.2 67.3-88.9

NOAA Checked 10.9 4.7-23.0

NOAA Not checked 89.1 77.0-95.3

Page 72 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

d. I sought to disseminate results in the past and was not allowed to 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 2.4 0.8-7.2

Total Not checked 97.6 92.8-99.2

NASA Checked 5.2 0.8-26.2

NASA Not checked 94.8 73.8-99.2

NIST Checked 2.4 0.5-11.7

NIST Not checked 97.6 88.3-99.5

NOAA Checked 1.0 0.2-4.8

NOAA Not checked 99.0 95.2-99.8

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

e. My research is ongoing and is not ready to be released 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 24.2 17.3-32.8

Total Not checked 75.8 67.2-82.7

NASA Checked 24.8 13.6-40.9

NASA Not checked 75.2 59.1-86.4

NIST Checked 27.2 16.9-40.6

NIST Not checked 72.8 59.4-83.1

NOAA Checked 22.6 12.6-37.1

NOAA Not checked 77.4 62.9-87.4

Page 73 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

f. My research is not eligible for public dissemination 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 5.4 2.5-11.2

Total Not checked 94.6 88.8-97.5

NASA Checked 19.2 8.7-37.3

NASA Not checked 80.8 62.7-91.3

NIST Checked 0.0

NIST Not checked 100.0

NOAA Checked 1.0 0.2-4.8

NOAA Not checked 99.0 95.2-99.8

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

g. Agency policies did not allow me to disseminate 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 5.5 2.2-13.1

Total Not checked 94.5 86.9-97.8

NASA Checked 7.0 1.7-24.6

NASA Not checked 93.0 75.4-98.3

NIST Checked 1.6 0.4-6.4

NIST Not checked 98.4 93.6-99.6

NOAA Checked 6.5 1.8-21.1

NOAA Not checked 93.5 78.9-98.2

Page 74 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q20. Which of the following reasons describe why in the past 5 years you have not sought to disseminate the results of your scientific 

research outside the agency?

h. Other Please specify below. 

[If Question 19 is No] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 12.0 7.7-18.1

Total Not checked 88.0 81.9-92.3

NASA Checked 12.7 5.8-25.6

NASA Not checked 87.3 74.4-94.2

NIST Checked 19.5 10.5-33.2

NIST Not checked 80.5 66.8-89.5

NOAA Checked 8.4 3.6-18.4

NOAA Not checked 91.6 81.6-96.4

Q21. Over the past 5 years, through which methods did you seek to disseminate your research results?

a. Publications (such as peer reviewed publications or non-peer reviewed publications) 

[If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 97.0 95.7-97.9

Total No 3.0 2.1-4.2

Total Not sure 0.1 0.0-0.3

NASA Yes 96.8 94.3-98.2

NASA No 3.2 1.8-5.7

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 97.3 95.5-98.4

NIST No 2.4 1.4-4.2

NIST Not sure 0.3 0.1-1.2

NOAA Yes 96.8 94.1-98.3

NOAA No 3.2 1.7-5.9

NOAA Not sure 0.0

Page 75 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q21. Over the past 5 years, through which methods did you seek to disseminate your research results?

b. Presentations (such as keynote addresses, conferences, workshops, symposia, professional society meetings, or Congressional 

hearings) 

[If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 96.8 95.1-97.9

Total No 3.2 2.1-4.9

NASA Yes 97.1 95.1-98.3

NASA No 2.9 1.7-4.9

NIST Yes 98.5 96.6-99.4

NIST No 1.5 0.6-3.4

NOAA Yes 95.0 90.1-97.5

NOAA No 5.0 2.5-9.9

Q21. Over the past 5 years, through which methods did you seek to disseminate your research results?

c. Agency releases (such as press releases, web posting on an agency website, or agency reports or fact sheets) 

[If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 46.4 43.1-49.8

Total No 48.5 45.1-52.0

Total Not sure 5.0 3.7-6.8

NASA Yes 40.8 35.6-46.1

NASA No 51.0 45.5-56.5

NASA Not sure 8.2 5.5-12.1

NIST Yes 54.7 50.0-59.4

NIST No 40.7 36.2-45.4

NIST Not sure 4.6 2.9-7.1

NOAA Yes 46.2 39.4-53.2

NOAA No 52.1 45.2-58.9

NOAA Not sure 1.7 0.6-4.5

Page 76 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q21. Over the past 5 years, through which methods did you seek to disseminate your research results?

d. Media interviews 

[If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 27.8 24.9-30.8

Total No 65.0 61.8-68.1

Total Not sure 7.2 5.6-9.3

NASA Yes 27.8 23.5-32.5

NASA No 61.2 55.9-66.3

NASA Not sure 11.0 7.9-15.3

NIST Yes 25.5 21.6-29.8

NIST No 68.2 63.7-72.5

NIST Not sure 6.3 4.3-9.1

NOAA Yes 29.6 24.0-36.0

NOAA No 66.9 60.3-72.9

NOAA Not sure 3.5 1.7-7.0

Q21. Over the past 5 years, through which methods did you seek to disseminate your research results?

e. Other - Please specify below. 

[If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 18.9 13.9-25.2

Total No 55.5 48.1-62.7

Total Not sure 25.6 19.5-32.9

NASA Yes 18.6 10.8-30.2

NASA No 53.2 41.1-64.9

NASA Not sure 28.2 18.4-40.6

NIST Yes 18.1 12.2-26.0

NIST No 61.0 51.3-69.8

NIST Not sure 20.9 13.9-30.3

NOAA Yes 20.3 10.9-34.6

Page 77 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NOAA No 52.9 37.3-68.0

NOAA Not sure 26.8 14.8-43.5

Q22. Other than for standard technical review reasons, over the past 5 years, have you ever encountered a situation when your agency 

did not allow you to disseminate your research results? 

 [If Question 19 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 5.9 4.5-7.8

Total No 94.1 92.2-95.5

NASA Yes 7.0 4.6-10.4

NASA No 93.0 89.6-95.4

NIST Yes 3.7 2.3-5.9

NIST No 96.3 94.1-97.7

NOAA Yes 6.4 3.8-10.7

NOAA No 93.6 89.3-96.2

Q23. Through which method(s) were you seeking to disseminate your research results when you were denied agency approval? 

a. Publication (such as peer reviewed publications or non-peer reviewed publications) 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 43.9 30.4-58.3

Total Not checked 56.1 41.7-69.6

NASA Checked 53.8 33.3-73.0

NASA Not checked 46.2 27.0-66.7

NIST Checked 36.8 18.3-60.2

NIST Not checked 63.2 39.8-81.7

NOAA Checked 34.1 13.1-63.8

NOAA Not checked 65.9 36.2-86.9

Page 78 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q23. Through which method(s) were you seeking to disseminate your research results when you were denied agency approval? 

b. Presentations (such as keynote addresses, conferences, workshops, symposia, professional society meetings, or Congressional 

hearings) 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 38.9 26.0-53.5

Total Not checked 61.1 46.5-74.0

NASA Checked 39.9 22.5-60.2

NASA Not checked 60.1 39.8-77.5

NIST Checked 29.9 12.1-57.1

NIST Not checked 70.1 42.9-87.9

NOAA Checked 41.8 19.1-68.7

NOAA Not checked 58.2 31.3-80.9

Q23. Through which method(s) were you seeking to disseminate your research results when you were denied agency approval? 

c. Agency releases (including press releases, web posting on an agency website, or agency reports or fact sheets) 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 21.5 13.1-33.2

Total Not checked 78.5 66.8-86.9

NASA Checked 21.7 9.3-42.7

NASA Not checked 78.3 57.3-90.7

NIST Checked 31.1 14.3-55.1

NIST Not checked 68.9 44.9-85.7

NOAA Checked 16.6 7.6-32.5

NOAA Not checked 83.4 67.5-92.4

Page 79 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q23. Through which method(s) were you seeking to disseminate your research results when you were denied agency approval? 

d. Media interviews 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 15.0 7.9-26.5

Total Not checked 85.0 73.5-92.1

NASA Checked 12.8 3.5-37.1

NASA Not checked 87.2 62.9-96.5

NIST Checked 24.0 9.6-48.4

NIST Not checked 76.0 51.6-90.4

NOAA Checked 13.5 5.5-29.6

NOAA Not checked 86.5 70.4-94.5

Q23. Through which method(s) were you seeking to disseminate your research results when you were denied agency approval? 

e. Other - Please specify below. 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Checked 2.8 1.2-6.4

Total Not checked 97.2 93.6-98.8

NASA Checked 0.0

NASA Not checked 100.0

NIST Checked 0.0

NIST Not checked 100.0

NOAA Checked 7.8 3.0-18.8

NOAA Not checked 92.2 81.2-97.0

Page 80 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

a. Appealed the decision using established procedures 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 29.7 17.1-46.3

Total No 67.0 50.8-80.0

Total Not sure 3.3 1.0-10.2

NASA Yes 20.9 9.5-39.9

NASA No 79.1 60.1-90.5

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 7.7 1.6-29.9

NIST No 82.4 56.6-94.4

NIST Not sure 9.9 1.9-38.2

NOAA Yes 50.0 24.8-75.3

NOAA No 45.8 22.1-71.5

NOAA Not sure 4.2 0.8-19.5

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

b. Disseminated the results anyway 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 15.7 6.2-34.5

Total No 79.9 62.6-90.5

Total Not sure 4.4 1.7-10.8

NASA Yes 4.1 0.8-18.5

NASA No 95.9 81.5-99.2

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 0.0

NIST No 90.1 61.8-98.1

NIST Not sure 9.9 1.9-38.2

NOAA Yes 35.3 13.2-66.2

Page 81 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NOAA No 58.2 29.9-82.0

NOAA Not sure 6.4 2.0-18.6

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

c. Disseminated the results through a different route 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 36.0 22.6-51.9

Total No 61.1 45.5-74.7

Total Not sure 2.9 0.9-9.0

NASA Yes 17.0 7.0-35.7

NASA No 83.0 64.3-93.0

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 43.5 22.6-67.0

NIST No 47.4 25.7-70.1

NIST Not sure 9.1 1.8-36.0

NOAA Yes 53.9 28.0-77.8

NOAA No 43.0 20.1-69.3

NOAA Not sure 3.2 0.7-13.7

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

d. Added a disclaimer that the opinions expressed in the research results do not reflect the views of the agency 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 8.1 3.8-16.7

Total No 90.0 80.7-95.1

Total Not sure 1.9 0.4-9.4

NASA Yes 5.3 0.9-25.2

NASA No 94.7 74.8-99.1

Page 82 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

95 Percent

Confidence 

Agency Interval

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 15.4 5.1-38.1

NIST No 74.7 49.5-89.9

NIST Not sure 9.9 1.9-38.2

NOAA Yes 7.9 2.5-22.7

NOAA No 92.1 77.3-97.5

NOAA Not sure 0.0

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

e. Resubmitted the same or similar document 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 16.0 6.2-35.4

Total No 82.1 63.4-92.4

Total Not sure 1.9 0.4-9.5

NASA Yes 3.7 0.7-16.9

NASA No 96.3 83.1-99.3

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 7.7 1.6-29.9

NIST No 82.4 56.6-94.4

NIST Not sure 9.9 1.9-38.2

NOAA Yes 39.5 13.7-72.8

NOAA No 60.5 27.2-86.3

NOAA Not sure 0.0

Page 83 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

f. Gave up trying 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 66.5 51.5-78.7

Total No 28.9 17.4-44.0

Total Not sure 4.6 1.8-11.5

NASA Yes 70.2 47.7-85.9

NASA No 29.8 14.1-52.3

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 46.7 25.2-69.6

NIST No 35.0 16.1-60.2

NIST Not sure 18.2 5.9-44.3

NOAA Yes 72.2 42.3-90.2

NOAA No 24.6 7.8-55.8

NOAA Not sure 3.3 0.7-14.2

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

g. Received approval following other types of revisions - Please specify below. 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Agency Interval

Total Yes 7.0 3.0-15.9

Total No 89.0 79.6-94.4

Total Not sure 4.0 1.5-10.1

NASA Yes 9.0 2.6-26.8

NASA No 91.0 73.2-97.4

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 7.7 1.6-29.9

NIST No 82.4 56.6-94.4

NIST Not sure 9.9 1.9-38.2

NOAA Yes 3.9 0.8-16.8

Page 84 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Agency Interval

NOAA No 89.9 75.4-96.3

NOAA Not sure 6.2 2.0-17.8

Q25. Did you take any of the following actions when you did not receive approval to disseminate your research results?

h. Other - Please specify below. 

[If Question 19 is Yes and Question 22 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total Yes 24.8 9.5-50.9

Total No 52.9 27.8-76.6

Total Not sure 22.4 7.2-51.7

NASA Yes 51.1 9.8-90.9

NASA No 48.9 9.1-90.2

NASA Not sure 0.0

NIST Yes 0.0

NIST No 69.7 22.7-94.8

NIST Not sure 30.3 5.2-77.3

NOAA Yes 33.5 10.1-69.3

NOAA No 40.6 13.4-75.2

NOAA Not sure 25.9 5.3-68.7

Q26. To the best of your knowledge, does your agency have a process or procedure in place to appeal decisions made regarding the 

dissemination of research results? 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Agency Interval

Yes, familiar 

Total with it 7.4 5.9-9.1

Yes, but not 

Total familiar with it 18.0 15.7-20.5

Total No 17.3 15.0-19.9

Total Not sure 57.3 54.2-60.4

NASA 

Yes, familiar 

with it 8.0 5.6-11.5

Page 85 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Agency Interval

NASA 

Yes, but not 

familiar with it 25.2 20.9-30.0

NASA No 15.3 11.9-19.3

NASA Not sure 51.5 46.3-56.7

NIST 

Yes, familiar 

with it 9.6 7.3-12.6

NIST 

Yes, but not 

familiar with it 16.6 13.7-20.1

NIST No 16.5 13.5-20.0

NIST Not sure 57.2 52.8-61.5

NOAA 

Yes, familiar 

with it 5.0 3.0-8.3

NOAA 

Yes, but not 

familiar with it 11.5 8.1-16.1

NOAA No 20.0 15.5-25.6

NOAA Not sure 63.5 57.3-69.2

Q27. In your opinion, how effective or ineffective is this appeals process or procedure in terms of its ability to resolve dissemination 

issues in a fair and reasonable manner? 

 [If Question 26 is Yes] 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Effective 87.5 78.8-92.9

Total 

Neither 

Effective Nor 

Ineffective 5.1 2.4-10.6

Total 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Ineffective 7.4 3.3-16.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Effective 78.6 62.5-89.0

NASA 

Neither 

Effective Nor 

Ineffective 5.8 1.7-18.1

NASA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Ineffective 15.6 6.9-31.6

Page 86 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix II: Selected Survey Results for

NASA, NIST, and NOAA 

Agency 

Question 

Choices 

Estimated 

Percentage

95 Percent

Confidence 

Interval

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Effective 100.0 

NIST 

Neither 

Effective Nor 

Ineffective 0.0 

NIST 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Ineffective 0.0 

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Effective 90.6 78.5-96.2

NOAA 

Neither 

Effective Nor 

Ineffective 9.4 3.8-21.5

NOAA 

Very or 

Somewhat 

Ineffective 0.0 

Page 87 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix III: Comments from the Department Appendix III: Comments from the of Commerce 

Department of Commerce 

Page 88 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce 

Page 89 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce 

Page 90 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce 

Page 91 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix III: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce 

Page 92 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix IV: Comments from the National Appendix IV Aeronautics and Space Administration : Comments from the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Page 93 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix IV: Comments from the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Page 94 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix V: Comments from the Office of Science and Technology Policy Appendix V: Comments from the Office of 

Science and Technology Policy 

Page 95 GAO-07-653 Federal Research
Appendix VI: 

A

GAO Contact and Staff 

cknowledgments 

Page 96 GAO-07-653

Ms. Anu Mittal, 202-512-3841 or mittala@gao.gov

In addition to the contact person named above, Cheryl Williams (Assistant 

Director), Allen Chan, Nancy Crothers, Elizabeth Erdmann, Stuart 

Kaufman, Matthew LaTour, Grant Mallie, Lisa Mirel, and Rebecca Shea 

made key contributions to this report. 

Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

Federal Research (360724) 
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