A strong, active science staff is the foundation of a federal science agency, and the Institute is home to a well-trained, multidisciplinary science staff with experience and advanced training in numerous fields relevant to issues of safety and justice. Such expertise is essential in guiding the Institute’s research portfolios; developing new programs of research that capture the lessons learned from previous research; laying out a path for future research, especially research addressing the justice system’s most critical issues; and disseminating scientific advances to further the translation of science into practice.
Intramural research is conducted by NIJ staff, including federal staff, contractors, visiting fellows and research assistants, while extramural research is conducted by investigators and institutions outside of the Institute. A robust intramural research program supplements the Institute’s extramural research program to ensure the continuous and efficient fulfillment of the Institute’s statutory mission: fostering and disseminating knowledge and tools derived from objective and rigorous scientific research to inform efforts to promote safety and advance justice. It also complements, advances, and informs extramural research efforts and helps improve criminal justice policy and practice. Identifying potential research and technology gaps, for example, can help direct future research resources to ensure they have maximum impact on improving the criminal justice system and public safety.
The Institute’s science staff is uniquely situated and trained to access federal laboratories, restricted data, and security-sensitive environments that could provide important opportunities for informing research in the broader criminal justice community. Where appropriate, they may access these resources in collaboration with scientists at other federal, state, or local research agencies.
What NIJ Intramural Research Looks Like
In cases where particular expertise and initiative reside within the agency, the Institute science staff may work independently or in collaboration with other NIJ scientists or with experts from other organizations. This work can result in materials for various audiences:
- Scientific Audiences: Peer-reviewed journal articles or presentations at scientific conferences.
- Practitioners and Policymakers: Reports and materials produced by the Institute or trade associations which translate research findings into actionable insights.
- General Public: Educational materials showcasing NIJ's work and the scientific underpinnings of advancing criminal justice practices.
NIJ science staff also collaborate with experts in other organizations, such as universities, nonprofit institutions, and other federal agencies. Where feasible, extramural projects, particularly those awarded as cooperative agreements, serve as important platforms for research collaboration between science staff and other researchers. Leveraging other federal efforts can realize tremendous benefits and efficiencies for the agency and taxpayers. Intramural research work may take several forms, including the following:
1. Program Development and Evaluation: Science staff members develop information about criminal justice research needs and NIJ and other research efforts — ongoing or planned — that may address those needs, pointing the way for future research. Based on this analysis, they formulate a strategy for the next steps in research, development, testing, and evaluation, articulating a strategic multi-year research plan for the program. Examples include:
- Conducting a meta-analysis of all research activities in an area, reporting on the research findings acquired, and assessing the impact of the program on the field.
- Collecting and analyzing information on other federal agencies’ research priorities and activities to identify potential collaboration opportunities.
- Convening a group of external experts to systematically gather information about the state of science in a given program area to help inform the Institute’s next steps in building knowledge through research.
2. Exploratory Research: The Institute science staff participates in the creation and testing of innovative developments in criminal justice, usually in collaboration with other researchers. That collaboration may be supported through cooperative or interagency agreements or other vehicles. Science staff members are particularly well positioned to pick up on important innovations in criminal justice and develop them into evidence-building programs.
The Institute provides a unique platform for its science staff to learn from other agencies, both within DOJ and in other departments, that identify and develop innovative criminal justice solutions.
The Institute’s science staff can be involved in the early stages of an idea, provide formative tests of an emerging innovation, and leverage agency resources to shape the innovation based on the needs of practitioners and policymakers. Science staff members are especially qualified to promote establishment of a rigorous line of research and evaluation (through, for instance, extramural grants) to help discern and refine an innovation and maximize its value to the field. Examples include:
- Conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to explore the efficacy of different, novel approaches to improving crime laboratory efficiency.
- Conducting an “innovation assessment” of a new Bureau of Justice Assistance-funded pretrial release program and designing a multisite field test to conduct a rigorous RCT evaluation, ensuring fidelity to the original model.
- Conducting a pilot evaluation of an innovative police vehicle accident avoidance program or technology.
3. Scholarship: Intramural research requires the same high standards of research that the Institute expects through its extramural programs. This means that NIJ science staff are afforded the same intellectual independence that all researchers should have and are trained and equipped to make credible scholarly contributions to the larger body of research. The forms that scholarly intramural research may take vary widely, as does the level of effort for an intramural research project. Science staff members at the Institute might work independently or in teams on intramural research scholarship projects. Research teams could include researchers from other agencies or researchers outside of government, including grantees. Examples include:
- Conducting secondary analysis on crime data and publishing the findings in a scholarly peer-reviewed journal.
- Synthesizing the existing evidence concerning a criminal justice challenge and publishing the findings in an influential practitioner journal to guide policy and practice.
- Partnering with a federal laboratory to inform, collaborate, design, or oversee a forensic science research project with the intent to publish.
- Co-authoring a scientific article with an NIJ grantee and submitting to a peer-reviewed journal for publication.
- Working with a nongovernmental standards development organization to develop an equipment performance standard.
- Conducting a systematic analysis of evaluated technology, reporting on the findings, and assessing the benefits or disadvantages of each technology to the field.
NIJ’s leadership team is firmly committed to strengthening its intramural research program and supporting its science staff members as they carry out innovative and creative new projects. Enhancing staff members’ scientific capabilities directly increases NIJ’s impact on the field of criminal justice research and practice.