NIH and NASA are restricting certain research collaborations involving foreign co-authors, according to reporting in Science. The outlet said NIH officials told grantees to request advance permission for co-authorship with scholars affiliated with foreign institutions even when work is performed in the U.S., and to remove unapproved foreign-affiliated publications from annual progress reports. NIH characterized the update as a clarification of longstanding policy for its Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program, which is limited to U.S.-based institutions and excludes foreign components. NASA’s policy concerns were also described, including concerns that researchers with Chinese institutional affiliations may have violated federal requirements. The developments are likely to affect compliance workflows for research administrators, the structure of collaboration agreements, and how universities vet publication activity tied to federally funded projects.