Research red tape keeps piling up

Now for the ugly: a few days ago the Council on Government Relations released a new report on research regulations; they find that 66% of new or revised requirements since 1991 have been issued in the last 10 years, with 2025 showing the biggest year-on-year increase since their measurement began. Over on Twitter there’s some interesting discussion about how these numbers should be interpreted (some of the new regulations replace existing ones, some might be intended to reduce burden rather than enhance it), but the top-line interpretation seems to hold: the administrative and compliance burden on researchers is increasing rapidly.