The actual military applications of basic research 

 results are long-term and without definition of use 

 at present, so there are few problems. However, 

 some projects may require that only cleared per- 

 sons be involved because of the need for certain 

 information obtained separately from the basic 

 research itself. 



When necessary, the system usually can cope 

 with the security problem to make basic research 

 results available. Such transfer of basic knowl- 

 edge to other scientists in the applied or develop- 

 mental areas both within and outside the agency is 

 indeed possible. Agencies make sure that break- 

 through ideas that develop from basic research 

 are transferred as rapidly as possible so that other 

 work can benefit. 



Dissemination of Research Results 



Deficiencies in the publication, distribution, and 

 availability of research results often are cited as 

 major impediments to the fullest utilization of the 

 products of research. But the agencies indicate 

 that the problems are not caused by barriers with- 

 in their own organizations. Indeed, supported sci- 

 entists are encouraged to publish their results in 

 journals or as reports. Furthermore, many agen- 

 cies (the Navy, for example) do not consider a 

 contract fulfilled until the research has been writ- 

 ten up and prepared for publication. The agencies 

 point out that, with few exceptions, their basic 

 research is unclassified and is therefore free of 

 restraints on publication. 



One deterrent to the dissemination of research 

 results is the time lag until publication in the sci- 

 entific journals. Another deterrent is publication 

 charges (page charges) levied on authors of jour- 

 nal articles to offset rising publication costs. Until 

 recently, many program managers voiced concern 

 that funds for these charges were inadequate. 

 Their concern has been dispelled somewhat by 

 regulations recently established by OMB.'' 



The system of publishing and disseminating 

 research results may be confusing to the layman, 

 but scientists understand the system and generally 

 benefit from the apparent competition. Where 

 duplication of research is disclosed, the accuracy 

 of others' work can be checked. Most important, 

 however, is that most quality research is pub- 

 lished in some journal. 



The desire for increased availability of informa- 

 tion has prompted many agencies to establish 

 their own information systems to produce reports 

 and abstract and index primary publications. 



'See Title 41 — Public Contracts and Property Management, 

 1-15, 205-48. revised as of July I, 1976. 



NASA has established an extensive system to 

 announce, catalog, publish, and disseminate (in 

 paper form and microfiche) reports of NASA- 

 supported research. The Scientific Technical 

 Aerospace Reports (STAR), for example, is a 

 collection of abstracts of reports on aerospace 

 projects and similar projects in other agencies 

 (abstracts on the latter are obtained from the 

 Smithsonian Information Exchange). NASA also 

 produces the Internationul Aerospace Abstracts. 

 which covers journal articles, conference pro- 

 ceedings, and books supported by NASA. DOD 

 requires that all its research reports are sent to 

 the Defense Documentation Center (DDC). Un- 

 classified papers are also sent to the National 

 Technical Information Service (NTIS) of the 

 Department of Commerce, in accordance with a 

 Government requirement. In this procedure each 

 supporting agency pays the input costs and sup- 

 plies the first set of publications. The large vol- 

 ume of information being produced today is in 

 itself a barrier to dissemination, and agencies' 

 efforts to make information available are costly. 

 Agencies such as NASA, HEW, HUD, and DOD 

 are aware of this problem, and some are taking 

 steps they hope will help. 



Scientists often point to a lack of funds neces- 

 sary to use some of the modern information sys- 

 tems. Special libraries, abstracting systems, and 

 indexing services generally require payment for 

 their use and often are expensive. Training in the 

 procedures to use the facilities efficiently is also 

 necessary, and time to undertake these efforts and 

 get to the user terminals can be inhibiting. Scien- 

 tists often find that information can be obtained 

 faster and more effectively by word of mouth, 

 through meetings, or by telephone. The chronic 

 lack of travel funds, however, which prevents 

 staff scientists from attending meetings and con- 

 ferences where some of the most current informa- 

 tion is transferred, is a common complaint. 



Use of Consortia in Management of 

 Major Facilities 



Agencies needing to establish research facilities 

 may select (if this option is allowed in their legis- 

 lation) the mode of a Government-operated in- 

 house laboratory, or they may select some form 

 of contract laboratory that is most likely to 

 produce the results they need. They may decide 

 to arrange for a single university to contract and 

 manage a laboratory according to specified ternis. 

 Where program advice and planning on a scale 

 broader than one university is desired, they may 

 turn to some form of advisory council, made up 



AGENCY SUPPORT OF BASIC RESEARCH BY FIELD OF SCIENCE 273 



