This document is written for United States Agency for International Development (USAID) staff and implementing partners. The purpose of this document is to consolidate, in one convenient reference, operational policies of particular relevance to the design and management of research activities. Many of these policies exist in the Automated Directives System (ADS). While avoiding restating these policies, this document references them and, where necessary, provides further guidance on matters that frequently arise in the conduct of research. This document also fills important operational policy gaps that are not covered in the ADS, especially on subjects such as scientific peer review, quality standards for research plans and reports, open data, and scientific publication.
