“Spurred by a 2009 directive from President Obama and subsequent guidance from the White House,” USAID on Wednesday “issued a new Scientific Integrity Policy [.pdf] to safeguard the quality and integrity of the Agency’s scientific and scholarly activities,” according to a USAID press release. The policy “articulates the principles regarding how scientific and scholarly activities are supported and carried out, and how research findings are used and disseminated,” the press release states, adding, “The intention of this policy is to capture and employ … best practices throughout the Agency and introduce new ways that USAID can enhance the use of science for development” (3/28).