This Programme’s objectives make it essential that the data produced by JIP projects be accepted, considered valid, and used by the scientific and regulatory communities. For that reason the data must be obtained and managed by practices that the scientific community considers to be fair and transparent. The practices described in this section were designed to meet these expectations.
Proposals on engineering subjects (Research Categories 1, 4, and 5) are reviewed by the JIP technical staff with occasional outside experts. Proposals on biological subjects (Research Categories 2 and 3) are reviewed by researchers, mostly academics, who are selected for their expertise in the narrow subject under consideration. Biological reviewers change over time, depending on the subject of RFPs. Reviewers work independently of each other and do not collaborate on results. At least three reviews are sought for each proposal. The identities of outside reviewers are not made available to the TMC or the public. Reviewers rate the proposals for merit according to the following criteria:
All proposals on the same subject are ranked according to their review scores (either internal or external reviews). Only those with the highest review scores are considered during the next phase, selection for recommendation to the Executive Committee. The criteria for proposal selection are:
Proposals must satisfy all these criteria to be selected for recommendation to the Executive Committee. The high cost of research, and the number of Research Topics of Interest usually prevent the JIP from funding more than one proposal under a given RFP. Selected proposals are recommended to the Executive Committee for possible approval. Those that include the home institution’s policies on Health, Safety and Environmental Management are reviewed by a contractor familiar with HSE policies to ensure consistency with the HSE policies of the OGP. The same contractor may sometimes audit the field implementation of these policies, if required. Proposals that involve the use of animals are reviewed for the degree to which they meet the requirements of the companies that participate in this JIP. The HSE and animal use reviews must be completed before OGP finalizes the contract.
Accepting a contract from OGP implies acceptance of all JIP policies on Health, Safety and Environment Management, Animal Use, and Review, Publication, and Intellectual Properties.