With attacks against animal researchers on the rise, three biomedical research groups compiled a guide to scientists for properly responding to requests for data and records while protecting themselves from animal rights activists who may take the information out of context and use it for harassment.

Image: Wikimedia commons

According to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and state open record laws, researchers are required to disclose information about federally or state-funded research projects, or studies conducted at public institutions such as state universities. But many researchers don't realize that certain information is exempt from these laws, such as personal and proprietary details, and that such information could be used by animal rights extremists to target the researchers.

Personal information is "one of the key things" that researchers must realize is usually irrelevant to a request, said Frankie Trull, president of the National Association of Biomedical Research (NABR), which worked with the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) to compose the guidelines. The specific location of the research and personal information about the researcher should thus not be included in the response to FOIA requests, in order to protect the research facility, the animals inside, and the researcher from potential harassment.

"It was clear that scientists were really not appreciating the power of the Freedom of Information Act and how it was being used," said Trull. "They need to be more sensitive to how they can protect themselves while complying with the law."

The last decade showed a "striking" shift in the strategies of animal rights extremists, Trull said -- rather than targeting institutions, breaking into research facilities and stealing animals, for example, they are targeting individuals. While illegal actions targeting universities dropped from 61% between 1990 and 1999 to just 12% between 2000 and 2009, attacks on individuals rose from 9% to 47% in the same time period (see graphic). "That is really the prime reason why we did this document," she said.

Distribution of targets of illegal actions by animal rights activists Image: The National Association of Biomedical Research and the Foundation for Biomedical Research

The guidelines, published earlier this week, detail 10 tips on how scientists can fully comply with any requests for records without putting themselves at unnecessary risk of harassment. These include:

-- Identify a point person within the institution who will be responsible for state open records requests and federal FOIA requests to ensure the system facilitates an orderly response.

-- Do not post personal information in the public domain.

-- Do not provide extraneous information that is not required by law; extraneous information may be taken out of context and used by animal rights activists to target you.

-- Review all exemptions to determine whether sensitive information falls within the protection of an exemption.

-- Keep all records required by law or otherwise necessary for business, research or operational purposes.

Click here to view the complete list of guidelines.


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