The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) established a committee to address the expressed need of the Department of Health and Human Services for a means of tracking the state of integrity in the research environment.

The committee was asked to (1) define the concept "research integrity", (2) describe and define the concept "research environment", (3) identify elements of the research environment that promote research integrity, (4) indicate how the elements may be measured, (5) suggest appropriate methodology for collecting the data, (6) cite appropriate outcome measures, and (7) make recommendations regarding adoption and implementation by research institutions, government agencies, scientific societies, and others (as appropriate) of those identified elements of the research environment that promote research integrity, and (8) convene a public meeting to discuss the IOM report, recommendations, and potential strategies for implementation.

The commitee's efforts resulted in a report entitled "Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating an Environment that Promotes Responsible Conduct".