Running a grant program for the first time can feel overwhelming. The work is time-consuming, requires attention to many details, and is accompanied by pressure from applicants who are desperate for money and prompt decisions. This article presents a list of all of the factors educators have to consider. From establishing a timeline and drafting…

It is not news that software exists to check undergraduate papers for plagiarism. What is less well known is that some federal grant agencies are using technology to detect plagiarism in grant proposals. That variety of research misconduct is a growing problem, according to federal experts. The National Science Foundation, in its most recent…

The American prison apparatus is larger today than ever before. The Pew Center on the States reported in February 2008 that more than one in 100 American adults live behind bars. However, few are scrutinizing the everyday experiences of the 2.3 million people in American prisons and jails. Scholars who want to do ethnographic fieldwork in prisons…

The National Institutes of Health's methods for reviewing and financing academic research proposals are often praised as the gold standard. Some American scientists, though, have recently offered less flattering descriptions, like "broken" and "arbitrary." NIH officials have heard both arguments, and plenty in between, in recent months. They have…

This article reports how researchers at Virginia Tech, working in a variety of disciplines, are studying the long-term effects of the campus killings 10 months ago. After the killings, administrators at Virginia Tech realized that their normal institutional-review process for research proposals was not sufficient to deal with the likely onslaught…