Research Policies and Guidance

Invertebrate research at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

NPS photo

Policies and guidelines govern research conducted on National Park Service lands, from initial project permitting through reporting and specimen curation. Links and resources on this page will help you understand the legal and policy context for park-based research.

Relevant NPS Management Policies

• Natural Resource Studies and Collections
• Cultural Resource Research
• Social Science Studies
• A variety of other policies can be reviewed on the NPS Policy website.

Permitting Research

• NPS uses the Research Permit and Reporting System (RPRS) to track all aspects of park research projects. See the detailed directions on how to use RPRS.
• If you are considering a park-based research project, please read Research and Collecting Permit Overview
• All research permits come with a common set of General Conditions. You may want to review these before applying for a permit.
• Some types of cultural research projects, such as archeology, may require other types of permits not administered through RPRS. Learn more about conducting cultural science research.

Integrity of Scientific and Scholarly Activities

The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have established policies to ensure the quality and integrity of scientific information.

• The Department's website on scientific and scholarly activities is a starting point for learning more about these policies, including the Scientific Integrity Procedures Handbook (pdf, 43 pages).
• Director’s Order #79: Integrity of Scientific and Scholarly Activities (pdf, 8 pages) establishes and defines policies, standards, and procedures pertaining to the National Park Service.

Specimen Collection

• See Researcher Resources for Specimen Collections, which includes templates and instructions for the transfer of collections data, and information on repository agreements, including specifics on collecting and depositing threatened or endangered animal tissue samples.
• View the Research and Collecting Permit FAQs

Reporting

If you hold a research permit, you must submit two types of reports. These reports make scientific information about public lands available to broad audiences and are part of the rationale for permitting research in NPS units. The park will review them and, if they are consistent with standards for information quality and privacy, will typically post them to NPS’s public archive IRMA DataStore.

1. An Investigator’s Annual Report (IAR) each year that the permit is active. The IAR is a brief summary of activities and results, if any, in that year.
2. Copies of final reports, peer-reviewed publications, published theses, conference abstracts, or other summary documents after the completion of a study.

In addition, a park may require that you provide copies of data, field notes, maps, photographs, and other “raw” information developed during your study. If so, the requirement will be described on your permit.

Commercial Use of Research Results

Although NPS issues Scientific Research and Collecting Permits solely for scientific and educational purposes, some research results have potential commercial value. As stated in the General Conditions for a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit, commercial applications for research results are prohibited unless the permittee has entered into an approved benefit-sharing agreement with the NPS. Learn more about benefits sharing.