Reducing Red Tape
Effective regulation of Federally sponsored research is vital to the public trust. The number of research regulations and requirements has increased for decades, resulting in duplication, inefficiencies, and costly administrative and financial burdens. Advancing effective research policy—while reducing red tape—is a core COGR mission priority.
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COGR Submits Response to OMB RFI on Deregulation
COGR responded to an Office of Management and Budget Request for Information on regulatory reform, advocating for significant reduction and harmonization of federal...
COGR Letters to Trump Administration on Reducing Red Tape Affecting Research
COGR congratulates President Trump on his inauguration and urges his administration to address the growing administrative burden caused by overlapping and...
Actionable Ideas to Improve Government Efficiency Affecting the Performance of Research
COGR provides a set of specific, actionable recommendations to enhance the efficiency of federal regulations affecting fundamental research, focusing on areas such...
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Matt Owens
President
All Reducing Red Tape Articles
COGR’s September 2025 Update
The September 2025 COGR Update provides an overview of recent federal developments affecting U.S. research institutions, including proposed regulatory changes, executive orders, litigation updates, and agency-specific policy shifts impacting research funding, compliance, security, and administration.
July 2025 Update
The July 2025 COGR Update offers a comprehensive review of recent policy, legal, and regulatory developments affecting research institutions, with primary focus on federal funding, research security, administrative burden, and the controversial 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursement. It details COGR’s advocacy—including legal actions and promotion of the FAIR Model—as well as significant federal a
May 2025 COGR Update
The May 2025 COGR Update provides an overview of recent federal policy changes, regulatory actions, and litigation that are significantly reshaping research administration and compliance. COGR highlights challenges posed by new indirect cost caps, increased regulatory and reporting burdens, grant terminations, and evolving agency requirements—including those related to foreign subawards, public ac
Cost of Compliance: Results from the COGR Survey on the Cost of Complying with the New NIH DMS Policy
The document summarizes the findings from a 2022 COGR survey assessing the financial and administrative burdens imposed by the new NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy, effective January 2023, which expanded data management requirements to all NIH-funded research projects generating scientific data. The survey, completed by 34 institutions (29 mid-size to large and 5 smaller institutions),
Research Security and the Cost of Compliance—Phase I Report, Disclosure Requirements Now Available
COGR conducted Phase I of the survey described in this report to quantify the considerable time and resources (financial and otherwise) that research institutions have invested (or will invest) to achieve compliance with the Disclosure Requirements. COGR is providing this Phase I report to research institutions and federal research funding agencies in the hope that it will both encou
COGR Survey on Institutional Resources in Support of Research Rigor and Reproducibility: October 2018 Meeting
The 2018 COGR survey examined the range and accessibility of resources provided by research institutions to support rigor, reproducibility, and overall research quality. With responses from 34% of member institutions, the survey revealed that while a substantial proportion offer critical resources—such as grant development support (95%), computing assistance (80%), biostatistics support (78%), and
