An experienced research administrator who has worked in both pre-award and post-award administrative roles offers her perspectives of both sides and suggests that a smooth relationship between pre-award and post-award research administrators is critical to the conduct of research. (DB)

The tradition of negotiating indirect costs in grants should be abandoned, and research administrators should instead offer different levels of service depending on what the sponsor wants to spend. Three levels of overhead rate are suggested (super, regular, and economy) and their corresponding levels of service are defined. (MSE)

This article promotes the utilization of Sign Language of the Deaf as a primary and secondary research language. The article discusses English as the traditional research language, the role of sign language in bilingualism, possible uses for American Sign Language (ASL) as a research language, and the availability of ASL-based literature for…

This reprinted 1970 article examines the role of the university research administrator and finds that the role involves paradoxes between controller and entrepreneur, master and slave, censor and publicist, and traditionalist and innovator. (DB)

Discusses the role of research administrators as executive administrators and executive managers of Institutional Review Board (IRB) ethical review programs within biomedical research institutions. Suggests that research administrators who serve as IRB executives can work to transform biomedical research organizations from being only associations…

Limitations of the market-economy model for organizing research in certain areas of knowledge, particularly the humanities, are discussed. A perspective in which knowledge is treated as a gift to society rather than a free-market commodity is outlined, and it is concluded that humanities and other research should be organized accordingly. (MSE)

Issues in determination of overhead for cost recovery from research funding sources are discussed, including the need to collect overhead, principles involved in charging for overhead, range of activity types to be considered, classification and calculation of costs, pricing policy, and payment to the university versus payment to its components.…

Explores three aspects of management research supervision: range and adequacy of supervisory roles, processes of supervisory intervention, and perceptions of power relationships. Identifies actions for supervisees, supervisors, and organizations in terms of academic and supervisory roles, intervention styles, and power relationships. (SK)

A discussion of fraud in the presentation of results of scientific research cites cases looks at variations in the degree of misrepresentation, kinds and intents of fraud, attention given by public agencies (National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Public Health Service), and differences between scientific and civil fraud. (MSE)

Examines the organization of contract research in the United Kingdom and the current system's benefits and problems for employers, employees, and sponsors, as well as policy initiatives. Concludes that the current system is deeply flawed and policy has failed to address the real issues. Fundamental changes are recommended. (Author/MSE)

Behavioral and environmental factors influencing the relationship between research administrators and research scientists are explored, and myths that may shape the roles and interactions of the two groups are examined. Patterns that emerge point to opportunities to exploit the productive interactions and reduce potential for less productive ones.…

Fifteen questions about research policy at higher education institutions are posed. The questions address concerns about the credibility and integrity of institutions that perform research in the national interest and are intended to stimulate discussion by policymakers as the country enters a period of likely reductions in federal basic research…

National technology development initiatives in Japan and Europe are playing an increasingly important role in many fields of research. Such heightened international activity suggests a need for a more global perspective on research administration, and raises many questions for the United States' research community and science and technology…

Chronicles the "biography" of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement: its emergence from a confederacy of research colleagues in the late 1950s to an "empire" to its present state as a collection of satrapies, each concerned with a particular research project. Traces the development of…

Research administrators must understand who they are and what they do. A metaphor for the research administrator's identity and service mission is proposed: "custodian of the corporate conscience and culture." The role of this administrator is viewed as part of the entire process of learning for the development of generalizable knowledge…