Issues of openness, secrecy, and sharing in the communication of scientific and technical information are central both to scientific progress and to individual, group and societal control. Industry is an increasingly important contributor to this country's scientific research effort, and any discussion of information sharing, openness and secrecy in science should include an analysis of industrial policies and the practices of industrial scientists. This project will explore information sharing policies in the pharmaceutical industry and the information sharing, openness and secrecy practices of pharmaceutical chemists. In-depth interviews will be conducted with several companies' chemists and chemistry managers. Managers will be asked about company policies and guidelines; chemists will be asked about their external communication activities, company policies and the decisions they make about what to share and with whom they share scientific information, data and results. These interviews will be analyzed and the results used to design a questionnaire for a large sample of chemists and managers. This study comes from a promising researcher at a primarily undergraduate institution; research plans are appropriate and incorporate undergraduate research assistance. Institutional support is good. The project will provide rich data about information sharing, openness and secrecy policies and their effects on the external information sharing practices of industrial scientists. Results will be relevant to both researchers and policymakers. Support is recommended.
