Certain terms and conditions associated with external relationships or found within outside activities agreements may violate or raise the risk of violating institutional policies or funding agency requirements, including conflict of commitment or conflict of interest policies, authorship guidelines, peer review confidentiality requirements or intellectual property policies.

High-risk activities may or may not have an agreement (written or verbal) associated and, at times, the problematic terms may not be readily apparent when a relationship is initially proposed. The information contained in this section is designed to provide faculty guidance and tools to recognize when an outside activity or relationship may contain high-risk terms or expectations. The Office for Academic and Research Integrity (ARI) is available to review outside activity agreements for faculty and to assist in identifying any terms and conditions that conflict with Harvard policy. Email outside_activities@hms.harvard.edu.

Tools for assessing outside activities:

          DO: Best Practices for Review of Outside Activities Agreements

          DON’T: Problematic Terms and Conditions with Outside Activities (verbal or written agreements)

High-Risk Activities that are receiving additional scrutiny by Federal Agencies and institutional review offices include but are not limited to:

            Participation in Talent Programs

            Performing research or running labs outside of Harvard

            Receiving or being named on grants outside of Harvard

            Undisclosed employment at an institution outside of Harvard