Massachusetts Institute of Technology
IN-3: Academy-Industry Connections

MIT has numerous policies governing industry sponsored research, conflicts of interest, access to data, and publishing rules that meet the credit requirement. The attached Conflict of Interest Policy is one of several referenced below and must be considered in their entirety: https://coi.mit.edu/policy https://coi.mit.edu/sites/coi/files/uploads/coi-policy-2017-02-23.pdf https://osp.mit.edu/grant-and-contract-administration/industrial-collaborations-and-agreements/sponsored-research https://osp.mit.edu/policies The collection of MIT policies and guidelines address the four credit criteria as follows: - Require that all significant consulting contracts (e.g. those worth $5,000 or more a year) be reported to a standing committee charged with reviewing and managing individual and institutional conflicts of interest; DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS Full and prompt disclosure of Significant Financial Interests (including, for PHS Investigators, Sponsored Travel) is critical to MIT’s ability to identify, manage, and eliminate Financial Conflicts of Interest. Investigators must describe a Related Entity’s business focus, their work or role with the Related Entity and any relationship to their Institutional Responsibilities. Please note: All MIT faculty and staff must also disclose certain information with respect to conflicts of interest in their annual report on Outside Professional Activities and Interests. 1. Creating a COI disclosure. An Investigator must create a COI disclosure in Coeus, which discloses the Investigator’s SFIs and how they relate to the Investigator’s Institutional Responsibilities. Once approved, the disclosure becomes a master disclosure, which maintains an ongoing record of the Investigator’s proposals, awards, SFIs, all approved disclosures and, for PHS Investigators, Sponsored Travel, for as long as the Investigator remains at MIT. See coi.mit.edu for more details. A financial interest is deemed to be significant if: 1. the Aggregate value of Remuneration and Equity Interests in lieu of payment, received from a U.S. or foreign publicly traded entity during the 12 month period preceding the disclosure exceeds $5,000; or 2. the Aggregate value of Equity Interests in a U.S. or foreign publicly traded entity exceeds $5,000 and the entity is sponsoring any of the Investigator’s research; or 3. the Aggregate value of Equity Interests in a U.S. or foreign publicly traded entity exceeds $100,000 and the entity’s business, or any portion thereof, reasonably appears to be related to any of the Investigator’s Institutional Responsibilities; or 4. the Aggregate value of Remuneration received from a U.S. or foreign non-publicly traded entity or non-profit institution during the 12 month period preceding the disclosure exceeds $5,000; or 5. any Equity Interest is held in a U.S. or foreign non-publicly traded entity; or 6. the Aggregate value of Remuneration received from a foreign governmental organization during the 12 month period preceding the disclosure exceeds $5,000; or 7. the Aggregate value of income related to intellectual property rights and interests paid by an entity other than MIT exceeds $5,000. (Page 6 of 16, 166653.1, August 2013) - Prohibit faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, and other academic professionals from engaging in industry-led “ghostwriting” or “ghost authorship”; The following policy is recognized at MIT as generally prohibiting the MIT academic community from participating in ghostwriting. 12.3 Use of Institute Name The Institute's name must not be used in ways that suggest or imply the endorsement of other organizations, their products, or their services. The use of the Institute's name, logo, seal, and photographs in the advertising and other promotional material and activities of outside organizations is prohibited when such use is likely to be understood as an endorsement, even if such an endorsement is not the intention of the person or organization seeking to use MIT's name. All proposals, therefore, for the use of MIT's name or other identification in advertising, sales literature and videos, and commercial publicity must be submitted to the Technology Licensing Office . Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MIT are registered trademarks of the Institute. MIT trademarks are licensed to others for use in connection with such products as T-shirts and hats; they are not generally licensed for use in connection with MIT intellectual property, software, patents, and copyrightable material. Any issues relative to the use of trademarks in connection with products should also be referred to the Technology Licensing Office. All faculty and staff members should assume responsibility for preventing misuse of the Institute's name. Misuse may arise from consulting activities, in public reports made by individuals, or through failure to record and clarify MIT's restrictions governing the use of results obtained during research or investigations on behalf of commercial firms. For this reason all agreements involving the use of Institute facilities, including use for press conferences or public announcements, should be coordinated with the News Office and with the Technology Licensing Office . It is equally important that faculty and staff members not allow their own names to be used in ways that state or imply Institute endorsement in connection with project or product promotions. It should also be understood clearly that opinions expressed by a faculty or staff member in preparing a report or paper under a consulting agreement or personal service contract are the opinions of the individual and not an official position of the Institute. Use of the Institute letterhead or address or other identification that might associate the conclusion of the report with the Institute should be avoided. Where publicity or advertising arising from personal, non-Institute research or consultation is concerned, faculty and staff members are advised to consult the Technology Licensing Office . Any financial accounts — such as bank, brokerage, or mutual fund accounts — that include Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT in the account name or that use the MIT Federal Tax Identification Number must be used solely for approved Institute-related purposes. Such accounts must be authorized and established by the Office of the Treasurer. Contact the Office of the Deputy Treasurer or, in the case of student activities, the Office of the Dean of Students and Undergraduate Education. Unauthorized use of the MIT Federal Tax Identification Number could result in the imposition of penalties by the US Internal Revenue Service. https://policies.mit.edu/policies-procedures/120-relations-public-use-mit-name-and-facilities-use/123-use-institute-name - Prohibit participation in sponsored research that restricts investigator access to the complete study data or that limits investigators’ ability to verify the accuracy and validity of final reported results; 14.2 Open Research and Free Interchange of Information The encouragement of research and inquiry into intellectual areas of great promise is one of the most basic obligations MIT has to its faculty, to its students, and to society at large. The profound merits of a policy of open research and free interchange of information among scholars is essential to MIT's institutional responsibility and to the interests of the nation as a whole. Openness requires that as a general policy MIT not undertake, on the campus, classified research or research whose results may not be published without prior permission — for example, without permission of governmental or industrial research sponsors. Openness also requires that, once they are at MIT, foreign faculty, students, and scholars not be singled out for restriction in their access to MIT's educational and research activities. More: https://policies.mit.edu/policies-procedures/140-research-policies-and-public-and-private-support/142-open-research-and-free - Ban confidential corporate research (i.e. research that cannot be published). Research Policy Guideline Research Publication Approvals or Permissions MIT POLICY MIT will not undertake research on the campus requiring permission or approval of government or industrial research sponsors prior to publication. MIT will allow a brief review-and comment period (not to exceed 30-days) to request the deletion of a sponsor’s inadvertently included proprietary information or to request the filing of patent applications(s). Any further delay requires the approval of the Office of Sponsored Programs. More: https://osp.mit.edu/sites/osp/files/policy/internal-file/rpg_publication_restrictions1_0.pdf

https://coi.mit.edu/policy https://coi.mit.edu/sites/coi/files/uploads/coi-policy-2017-02-23.pdf https://osp.mit.edu/grant-and-contract-administration/industrial-collaborations-and-agreements/sponsored-research https://osp.mit.edu/policies https://policies.mit.edu/policies-procedures