The AAAS Statement on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was adopted by the AAAS Board on October 12, 2017 (see also, Jarvis, M., AAAS adopts scientific freedom and responsibility statement, Science, 27 Oct 2017). The Statement is an enduring articulation of the meaning of and connections between scientific freedom and scientific responsibility. This online portal supporting the Statement is a resource hub providing information and articles that can be used to further and inform discussions within labs, in policy offices, on campuses and in classrooms about what scientific freedom and responsibility mean, not just in principle, but also in practice.
The development of the Statement was led by the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility (CSFR). CSFR is an Advisory Committee to the AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program. Committee members are jointly appointed by the AAAS Board and Council, and among the Committee’s duties is to “formulate and recommend principles and procedures to guide the Association in a continuing review of issues that affect scientific freedom and scientific responsibility, and to search for means that will effectively bring these issues to the attention of both scientists and others.” It is in furtherance of that duty that the Statement emerged.
The Committee is committed to ensuring this portal is updated with additional Science articles, featured articles, and AAAS activity descriptions. If you have any questions, comments or suggested resources to add to the online portal, please contact us.
Citations of Statement
"The AAAS Board of Directors has adopted the Statement on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility." American Association of Biological Anthropologists (Aiello, 2017).
"AAAS Adopts Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Statement." Science (Jarvis, 2017).
"Did the Reformation Advance Science?" Creative Evolution Headlines (Coppedge, 2017).
"Declaration of World Science Forum 2017 on Science and Peace." World Science Forum (2017).
"Marking Human Rights Day With a Focus on Scientific Freedom." Carnegie Mellon University Center for Human Rights Science (Rea, 2017).
AAAS Submission to United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Day of General Discussion – Right to Science. UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018).
"The Importance of Expert Witness Consult Work." Forensic Magazine (Melinek, 2017).
"From Tapestry to Loom: Broadening the Perspective on Values in Science." Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology (Douglas, 2018).
"Who’s Responsible If a Scientist’s Work Is Used for Harm?" Leaps.org (Douglas, 2018).
"AAAS Statement on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility." Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Conference. Presentation (Holbrook, 2018).
"NTU Research Integrity Policy." Nanyang Technological University: Singapore (2018).
"Open Science-Research and Innovation." European Commission Expert Group on Indicators (European Commission, 2018).
"Human Rights as a Lens for Engineering Ethics?" American Society for Engineering Education (Bielefeldt, 2019).
"Declaration of the 9th World Science Forum on Science Ethics and Responsibility." World Science Forum (2019).
"Conducting Psychological Research Across Borders." The Cambridge Handbook on Psychology and Human Rights. Cambridge University Press (Bullock and Zakowski, 2020).
"Science and Moral Imagination: A New Ideal for Values in Science." University of Pittsburgh Press (Brown, 2020).
"The Relation of Science to Human Values." Psychology Today (Brown, 2020).
"A Code of Ethics for Gene Drive Research." The CRISPR Journal (Annas et. al., 2021).
"Scientific Freedom and Social Responsibility." Science, Freedom, and Democracy. (Douglas, 2021).
"Novel Reflections on the Autonomy and Responsibility of Science." Frontiers (Hempel, 2021).