NIH's Commitment to Public Accountability

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NIH has had a long-standing commitment to promote the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration by publishing NIH data that generates significant benefit for citizens and which helps the public hold the government accountable. This includes information on the biomedical research and training awards made every year by NIH, as well as making the findings of those awards available to the public in a timely manner.

NIH efforts are also part of a broader Federal-wide initiative on open government. More on these efforts can be found at the Open Government Initiative website and the HHS Open Government website.

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), ensures that the public can access information on all entities and organizations receiving Federal funds. Central to the law was the development of www.USASpending.gov, a publically available website with searchable information on each Federal grant and contract over $25,000. In addition, the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) provides a method for Federal grantees and contractors to provide information on executive compensation and first-tier subawards. Together the NIH and our grantees work together to provide this new level of transparency into NIH awards. For more information on NIH's implementation of FFATA, visit Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.

NIH Research Portfolio Reporting Tools

  • RePORT – The Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) provides access to reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities, including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research.
  • NIH Data Book – Basic summary statistics on extramural grants and contract awards, grant applications, the organizations that NIH supports, the trainees and fellows supported through NIH programs, and the national biomedical workforce.
  • Funded Organizations – Information on the academic and research institutions, hospitals, private businesses, and non-profit organizations that NIH supports through our research and research training programs. 
  • Recovery Act Funding – Recovery Act funding maps, grant information downloads, and Recovery Act project searches.

NIH Public Access Policy

The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public on PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication.

Publicly-Accessible NIH Databases

  • PubMed Central – The NIH free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
  • ClinicalTrials.gov – Registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov provides information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. This information should be used in conjunction with advice from health care professionals.

Freedom of Information Act Requests

This page last updated on October 22, 2010 
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