On December 7, 2011, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), set forth a new scientific integrity policy.
Dr. Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), executive publisher of the journal Science, offered the following comment regarding the policy:
"The new NOAA policy articulates that scientists should speak freely about their scientific findings and share the results of their work. We applaud this as a model for the communication of government science. We recognize of course that public policy is not dependent solely on science but having the science freely accessible is tremendously important for informing policy, and is the way it should be."
Dr. Lubchenco's announcement took place at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
The NOAA policy responds to President Barack Obama's March 9, 2009 Memorandum to Department and Agency Heads on Scientific Integrity.
To contact Dr. Leshner for further comment, reporters can e-mail gpinhols@aaas.org or call (202) 326-6421.
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