Guidance on Scientific & Professional Activities

Free and open scientific communication is essential to NOAA’s research enterprise and a foundation of NOAA’s Scientific Integrity Policy. NOAA employees and sponsored researchers engaged in science and the development of scientific products are encouraged to publish data and findings in transparent ways. This includes dissemination through reputable peer-reviewed, professional or scholarly journals, and appropriate online formats such as open access journals and publicly accessible government websites.  NOAA researchers are also encouraged to speak publicly about their scientific and technical ideas, approaches, findings, and conclusions based on their official work.

NOAA scientists are required to understand and follow Department of Commerce, NOAA, and federal guidelines regarding publishing, communicating, and sharing information regarding their NOAA-sponsored work.  NOAA sponsored awardees must follow the policies and procedures that apply to their respective award agreements or contracts.

Publishing Scientific Work

Maintaining quality standards and clearly communicating our work to the public is an important responsibility of NOAA and its scientists. The development, review, and dissemination of scientific and technical products must be consistent with NOAA’s policies and procedures related to peer review, open science and open access, the Information Quality Act, and other requirements.

To achieve both open scientific communication and the high quality of that communication NOAA, through the NOAA Science Council, issued the NOAA Framework for Internal Review and Approval of Fundamental Research Communications. Highlights of the Framework:

• This guidance applies to all Fundamental Research Communications (FRC) as defined in the Departmental Administrative Order, DAO-219-1 “Public Communications.”
• The requirement for internal review of FRCs applies to all NOAA Federal authors and co-authors, as well as to NOAA contractors to whom the NOAA Scientific Integrity Policy (NAO 202-735D.2) applies.
• An FRC is any communication, regardless of avenue of dissemination or method of presentation, that relates to the NOAA’s programs, policies, or operations and takes place or is prepared officially and that deals with the products of basic or applied research in science or engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community so long as the communication does not contain information that is proprietary, classified, or restricted by federal statute.
• If a communication also includes matters of policy, budget, or management, then it is not an FRC.
• The Framework document establishes a minimum review standard for all NOAA Line Offices, Line Offices will have their own internal review and approval policy consistent with the Framework guidance. 
• Internal FRC review must not be used to inhibit or excessively delay the dissemination of scientifically meritorious FRCs, as prohibited in the NOAA Scientific Integrity Policy.
• The FRC must include a disclaimer when the scientific conclusions or viewpoints presented in the FRC could reasonably be construed as representing the official view of NOAA or the Department of Commerce when they do not.

Additional Guidelines and Resources on Publishing Scientific Work:

• Adhere to Best Practices for Authorship.
• Authorship is one aspect of publishing that can affect the quality and credibility of NOAA science. Thus, NOAA and NOAA-affiliated authors should adhere to a set of well-documented best practices for authorship to reduce the risk to NOAA’s scientific integrity. The NOAA Scientific Integrity Committee, in consultation with the NOAA Science Council, developed the Best Practices for Designating Authorship document to help guide authors/co-authors. The document represents widely accepted approaches derived from authorship policies of other federal agencies, professional societies and laboratories and programs within NOAA.
• Avoid Predatory Journals and Papermills
• Predatory publishing is the exploitation of the open access publishing model for profit by creating pseudo-academic journals. Authors should avoid publishing in journals that use unethical and exploitative publishing practices. Authors must prioritize assessing the quality and credibility of scholarly journals and publishers to ensure scientific and research integrity. Visit the NOAA Library site on publishing scholarly work for more information on journal evaluation and predatory publishing.
• Follow NOAA Policy and Procedures for Open Science and Public Access to Research Results.
• The NOAA Plan for Increasing Public Access to Research Results was developed in response to Federal requirements to increase access to the results of federally funded scientific research – publications and data. Per NOAA policy, NOAA authors are responsible for ensuring that NOAA research is available freely and immediately at the time of publication, without delay or embargo. This includes:
  • Submitting the final post-refereed, pre-publication manuscript to the NOAA Institutional Repository (IR) immediately upon publication.  Manuscripts and technical publications can be submitted to the NOAA IR via the submission form, RPTS (if utilized by your office), or via email to noaa.repository@noaa.gov.
  • Ensuring scientific data associated with publications are made freely available and publicly accessible with an open license (if not considered restricted scientific data).  Data, and data documentation, must be submitted to the NOAA Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) or an approved repository to ensure data are assigned a digital object identifier (DOI).
  • From within the NOAA internal network, see the Quick Guide to PARR For NOAA Scientists for additional resources on the requirements for public access to publications and data.

For more information, visit the NOAA Library sites on publishing scholarly work , open access publishing, and use of persistent identifiers.

Public Presentations, Social Media, and Media Engagements

NOAA scientists and engineers are encouraged to present their work at scientific meetings and speak freely to the public and the media about their scientific and technical ideas, approaches, findings and conclusions based on their official work. Such communications are subject to the Department of Commerce DAO 219-1 “Public Communications.” Social media and web communications regarding official scientific work are subject to the Department of Commerce’s Social Media and Web 2.0 Policy. NOAA scientists and engineers are strongly encouraged to become familiar with these policies and procedures, and specifically:

• Presentations on scientific research results not previously published may be considered Fundamental Research Communications and may be subject to internal review per the NOAA Framework for Internal Review and Approval of Fundamental Research Communications and local Line Office procedures.
• Researchers are free to participate in Fundamental Research Communications with the media regarding their research, but they are not required to do so.
• Email or other forms of electronic communication in response to inquiries from the media concerning scientific or technical matters based on an employee’s official work, like oral communication, are not subject to approval, but are subject to the restrictions on protected non-public information.
• NOAA scientists and engineers are encouraged to consult with communications specialists within NOAA Communications for advice regarding media requests.
• Personal and professional social media communications involving posting original material on NOAA scientific programs or research results related to their official duties may be subject to supervisor review and/or review by NOAA Communications.