NIH, NASA reportedly restrict collaborations with foreign scientists

American scientific research is facing a quiet shift in policy as federal agencies move to restrict collaborations with international scientists, according to Science magazine. While no formal regulations have been officially published by these agencies, the informal enforcement of new guidelines is already creating significant friction within the scientific community.

New Hurdles for Researchers

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now reportedly requiring grantees to seek advance permission for co-authorship involving scholars at foreign institutions, even when the research is conducted entirely within the United States. Furthermore, the NIH is scrutinizing documentation like annual progress reports, forcing researchers to remove papers that list co-authors from foreign institutions—including visiting colleagues, students, or former associates who have since moved abroad.

Meanwhile, NASA is intensifying its oversight of American researchers working with colleagues in China, applying strict scrutiny even in cases where no federal funding crossed U.S. borders. Researchers are also now required to obtain agency approval before initiating any studies outside of the country.

Impact on the Scientific Community

These developments come after a 2017 report indicated that roughly 30% of NIH-funded papers featured both U.S. and non-U.S. authors. The current environment has many in the field feeling uneasy, as informal mandates create a strong incentive for scientists to preemptively exclude foreign co-authors from their work to avoid bureaucratic roadblocks.

Tobin Smith, senior vice president at the Association of American Universities, expressed concern to Science regarding the future of collaborative innovation. Smith noted that these restrictions force researchers to worry more about 'who you publish with than what science you are actually publishing,' warning that such a shift will ultimately 'hurt science.'