The true statement is: C) U.S. funded research collaborations are often governed by U.S. regulations no matter where the research takes place.

Why option C is correct

  • U.S. regulations that protect human and animal research subjects generally follow the funding and engaged institutions , not just the physical location.
  • When a project is funded by a U.S. federal agency (e.g., NIH, NSF) or conducted under the oversight of a U.S. institution that has agreed to comply with federal research regulations, those rules usually apply even if the work is done in another country or at a foreign site.

In short, if U.S. money or a U.S. “assured” institution is involved, U.S. research protections and regulations typically still apply.

Why the other options are false

  • A) “The research of an international graduate student enrolled at a U.S. university is not governed by U.S. regulations unless the student plans to publish the results.”
    • U.S. research regulations apply to how research is conducted (e.g., human subjects protections), not only whether it will be published.
* Institutional review boards (IRBs) and similar bodies oversee research design and conduct regardless of a specific publication plan.
  • B) “International research collaborations involving U.S. funded researchers are not governed by U.S. regulations when the work takes place at a private university.”
    • U.S. regulations apply to funded entities and their collaborators , whether they are public or private. The status of the foreign university as “private” does not exempt it from U.S. requirements tied to the grant or U.S. partner institution.
  • D) “International research is governed by the United Nations instead of any specific country’s regulations.”
    • There is no single UN regulatory system that overrides national law for research. Instead, research is governed by a combination of national laws, regional frameworks (e.g., EU rules), and institutional policies.
* International guidelines exist, but legal authority remains with individual countries and, in some cases, supranational entities like the EU.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.