Research Resources
Scientific research is governed by an ever-increasing number of laws, regulations, and policies at the local, state, and federal levels. Harvard has several resources available to assist postdocs with the regulatory requirements for their research.
Key Offices in this space
FORA provides FAS- and postdoc-specific information to facilitate research including information on polices and procedures, frequently needed forms, tools for managing sponsored research, and funding resources.
Provides a comprehensive list of research policies ranging from human subjects and stem cells to grants management and intellectual property. For each policy they provide a general overview, a summary of external (i.e., state and federal) regulations, and specifics on Harvard’s polices, procedures, and guidance including additional resources, local contacts, and available training.
Offer FAS researchers step-by-step guidance for research involving materials, subjects, or processes that are highly regulated or require special approvals.
Additional Resources
- Sample Proposal Library
- ORCID
- Special additional Resources for Postdocs working on Cancer, provided by the DFCI Pathfinder: Meeting the needs of DF/HCCs early-stage cancer investigators by supporting their educational, training, transitions, and career development. Search Funding, Courses, and more…
One important document to keep in mind are the Guidelines on Authorship and Acknowledgement, provided by the FAS Research Integrity Office.
Mandatory online effort training for those on federal funding in the FAS or SEAS
If you’re intending on applying for, or may soon receive, a federal fellowship or grant in the FAS or SEAS, you are required to take an online mandatory effort training before you will be allowed to submit/receive your proposal.
Please go to the Harvard Training Portal, sign in with your Harvard Key, and complete the training.
Please save a copy of the certificate at the end of the training and submit it with your proposal.
All resources available at Harvard are listed on the site, Resources for Postdocs, maintained by the FAS Office for Research Administration (FORA). In addition, FORA provides quick access links to several funding opportunity databases, three of which are also descrribed below. This includes a curated list of funding programs for postdocs.
This workshop by our FORA colleagues has offers advice on how to navigate PIVOT and other search databases.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Science Foundation Update: A daily email alert service with subscription options that include new research opportunities, upcoming deadlines, and other content categories.
Browse Funding by Program
Advanced Funding Search
Index of Funding Opportunities
Recently Announced Active Funding Opportunities
NSF Find Funding Search Tools
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH News Releases: A daily news bulletin of new programs and findings from the NIH.
NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: The official publication for NIH medical and behavioral research Grant Policies, Guidelines and Funding Opportunities. Each week (usually on Friday afternoon), the NIH transmits an e-mail with Table of Contents (TOC) information for that week’s issue of the NIH Guide, via the NIH LISTSERV. The TOC includes a link to the Current NIH Guide Weekly Publication as well as links to each NIH Guide RFA, PA and Notice published for that week.
NIH Funding Opportunities Available in RSS Format
Advanced Funding Opportunities & Notices Search Results
NIH Funding Blog
NASA
NASA Research Solicitation Announcements: An electronic Subscription Service available to obtain notification of the release of NASA research solicitation announcements.
Center for Disease Control (CDC)CDC Cooperative Agreement Funding Opportunities: Funding opportunities from CDC that are available to members of the sponsoring associations: Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR).
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Environmental Protection Agency: A list of all open announcements, not an automated search site.
Other Federal Resources
The Federal Register: The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. To subscribe to the Federal Register Table of Contents LISTSERV electronic mailing list, go to listserv.access.gpo.gov and select Online mailing list archives, FEDREGTOC-L, Join or leave the list (or change settings); then follow the instructions.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov Find Grant Opportunities: You can select either e-mail or subscribe to RSS notification of funding.
Science Funding Opportunities
GrantsNet: A one-stop resource to find funds for training in the sciences and undergraduate science education. Sponsored and maintained by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this database offers funding opportunities for training in the biological and medical sciences. No subscription required. Users may sign up to receive the weekly e-mail GrantsNet Express.
Harvard postdocs have the ability to find new information on private funders by logging in to Foundation Directory Online Professional (FDO) with their Harvard ID and PIN. FDO is the nation’s leading online resource for research on private, foundation, and corporate funding research. To access FDO, please visit their website.
The FAS Research Development team has created a Guide to FDO.
For technical difficulties accessing FDO, please submit an e-ticket by clicking “Report a Problem with E-Resources.” This will allow the library to track and fix problems quickly and efficiently. Please do not contact Foundation Directory Online for assistance with technical matters.
This searchable database is updated daily and contains information about government, non-profit, industry and international funding opportunities. By specifying certain criteria, Harvard researchers can receive weekly Pivot Funding Alerts. Pivot Funding Alert subscribers receive a weekly email with a customized list of funding opportunities based on previously specified criteria.
For instructions on using PIVOT, consult this User Guide as well as these Search Tips.
SPIN is a funding opportunities database designed to provide up-to-date information on current national and international government and private funding sources. It is particularly useful for postdoctoral scholars and junior faculty. There is some overlap with the COS database, but there are opportunities in SPIN that you might not find in COS. There are also search fields not available in COS. Use the Advanced Search option to obtain the best results from this database. All of the data in SPIN is obtained directly from the sponsoring agencies to ensure the integrity of the information.
Some funding applications require the submission of certain materials, including the following:
Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course requirements
Sample mentoring plan for NSF proposals
Template: NIH Research Performance Progress Report
(Template to meet the requirements of the Revised Policy: Descriptions on the Use of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers Required in Annual Progress Reports beginning October 1, 2014.)
FORA (FAS Office of Research Administration) has compiled information and resources to help enhance proposal competitiveness. This includes sample proposals and advice.
Harvard Catalyst – The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center is dedicated to improving human health by enabling collaboration and providing tools, training and technologies to clinical and translational investigators. Resources include online and in-person courses, grant writing strategies, and a database of investigators by research topic.
Dona Vogel presentation on Grantcraft
Dr Kelvin Droegemeier's written testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives in 2017 is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the history and justification for the percentage of indirect costs (also called F&A costs) associated with federal grants.
Global Support Services
If you are planning on traveling overseas for study, work, or research at any point during your training, and if you need help to plan your trip safely, please consult the resources provided by Harvard Global Support Services, including security, visas, evacuation, or other travel considerations.
International Travel Loaner Devices
Taking computers or phones when traveling heightens the risk of data and identity theft. To support productivity and increase security, HUIT is launching a new service providing loaner devices for travel to high cyber risk countries. After a successful pilot with the FAS Science division, this offering will now be available University-wide to staff, faculty, and researchers who need a phone or computer while visiting China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia. For more information, please review the information provided by HUIT on their website here.
In this recording, Psychologist Hugh Kearns discusses how to shamelessly promote your work. (January 2024)
Controlled Substances (EH&S)
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S)
Vertebrate AnimalsHuman Subjects (IRB)
Biohazardous Materials and/or Select Agents
Stem CellsCore Facilities
Laboratory Safety and Offices
ORCID
To request a checklist for a specific research topic please contact Sarah Elwell (sarah_elwell@harvard.edu).
Comprehensive table covering all Harvard Policies and Guidelines for Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Researchers
Selected Policies:
Guidelines on Authorship and Acknowledgement
Harvard University Participation Agreement (IP Policy for postdocs to sign electronically)
Intellectual Property and Licensing Information (Office of Technology Development)
Policies Governing Research
Interim Policy and Procedures for Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct
The in-person Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course is open to all Harvard-affiliated individuals and offered in Cambridge twice a year—in January and in August.
The course is eight hours long, with significant researcher facilitation and administrative support, and uses discussions and case studies to examine basic ethical and regulatory requirements for conducting research.
RCR is a highly recommended “best practices” course for those desiring to deepen their knowledge of ethical research and responsible conduct. It is also an excellent professional opportunity for anyone interested in furthering a career in research. While this particular course is not mandatory, it fulfills the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) requirements for formal RCR instruction.
Topics covered include research misconduct; responsible authorship and publication; mentor-mentee relationships; conflicts of interest; peer review; data acquisition and management; ownership of data and biological samples; and collaborations.
The FAS Research Integrity Office provides extensive resources on issues such as Research Misconduct and Guidelines for Authorship and Acknowledgement.
In addition, the Office of Research Integrity of the Department of Health & Human Services has a great site with resources.
Article in Nature stimulating discussion.
Image Acquisition basics.
Appropriate use and manipulation of images Ethical Guidelines.
Digital Tools Available to Researchers:
- Imagetwin is an online verification tool that uses AI to identify image duplications and manipulations. It can detect duplications both within a manuscript and across publications, using a database of 75 million life-science images from PubMed, BioRxiv, and publisher repositories. It supports multiple image types including microscopy, western blots, light photography, FACS and graphs/charts, and can detect manipulations such as scaling, rotations, contrasts, and color changes. Imagetwin is being made available with no cost through FY25 to determine use.
- iThenticate enables researchers to compare manuscripts against published works for potential plagiarism. A ‘Similarity Score’ indicates how much of the document matches other sources and used correctly, can help to validate citations. Information about use and access can be found on this page of the HUIT site.
- Grammarly uses AI to assist researchers to write with more confidence by helping the individual to find the right words based on the topic and audience. This tool will provide suggestions to keep the researcher’s own voice.
The following is based on a talk by Cary Moskovitz, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice at Duke University. October 14, 2025.
Text Recycling definition
Text recycling involves the reuse of textual material (Prose, visuals, or equations) in a new document where:
- The material in the new documents is identical to that of the the source (or substantively equivalent in both form and content);
- The material is not presented in the new document as a quotation (via quotation marks or block indentation), and
- At least one author of the new document is also an author of the prior document.
There are 4 kinds of possible text recycling (See Standardizing terminology for text recycling in research writing. Learned Publishing, 2021)
- Developmental recycling
- Generative recycling
- Adaptive publication
- Duplicative publication
Best Practice
- Authors should recycle text where consistency of language is needed for accurate communication
- Authors may recycle text, so long as the recycled material is accurate and appropriate for the new work and does not infringe copyright or violate publisher policies
- Authors should be careful not to recycle text in ways that might mislead readers or editors about the novelty of the new work
- For most unpublished work, authors hold copyright and thus can recycle from that work without legal restriction. Please note that, under "work-for-hire" arrangements, authors do not hold copyright. These authors accordingly need permission).
- Most publishers require authors to transfer copyright to the publisher. Authors' rights to recycle from their own published works are then limited by copyright laws, which vary by country. Publication contracts may, however, let authors retain some rights to recycle.
- If the amount or type of recycling exceeds what copyright laws and the signed contract allows, authors should obtain permission from the publisher of the source document
- Authors should be transparent with editors, informing them about the presence of recycled material upon submission
- Authors should be transparent with readers by including a statement notifying readers that the document contains recycled material. Example: We previously published a study from the overall project (reference). In a previously published study... The introduction of the present paper is based on the introduction of the previously published study. Because of the overlap of methods used, we adopted the methods used in the previously published study. We followed the guidance by the Text Recycling Research Project.
- If the authors of the new work are not identical to those of the prior work, the corresponding author of the new work should obtain permissions.
Available on the Text Recycling Research Project (TRRP) website:
Best Practices for researchers
Understanding Text Recycling in Research Writing: A Guide for Researchers
TRRP Model Text Recycling Model Policy