The Unit Publications series contains printed material published specifically by the Office of Research. These publications are defined as being widely distributed and may be published at regular intervals. They are arranged by genre of the publication.
Unit Publications include annual reports, brochures, budgets, ephemera including flyers, invitations, posters, and programs, manuals, newsletters, policy statements, presentations and reports. The annual reports include those written for the Board of Regents, under the titles Research Report to the Board of Regents, Report to the Regents, and Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at the University of Michigan: Annual Report to the Regents, date from 1986 to 1999. These publications highlight the various types of research, detail expenditures, and summarize research proposals done by the faculty and staff of the University of Michigan. Researchers should consult the annual "presentations" made to the Board of Regents by the Vice President for Research for more concise report on research and scholarly activity.
In 1996 this presentation was entitled Research Expenditures, Sponsored Proposals and Awards. The presentation to the Regents in 1997 was Research and Scholarly Activities: A Presentation to the Regents. Support for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities: Annual Financial Report, documents the period from 1988 to 1998 and summarizes Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) funding allocations by unit, expense category (equipment, salaries, student support, supplies, and travel), academic division, rank of applicant (assistant, associate, and full professors, research scientists, curators, lecturers, and research investigators), gender, and race.
The 1994 and 1996 Report to the Executive Officers highlight the activities and functions of the OVPR for that year, including initiating information and discussion sessions on responsibility in the conduct and administration of research; conducting open forums to discuss updates in technology, to review new policies toward human subjects, and to assess the impact of Value-Centered Management (VCM) on interdisciplinary research; and developing the OVPR website to provide information about the University of Michigan research program and its policies.
There are several manuals included in the publications. The Funding for Scholarly Activity published from 1992 through 1993 includes information about funding available from the OVPR, the Rackham School of Graduate Studies and the University Council of International Academic Affairs. Research and Scholarship Support Available from the Office of the Vice President for Research published in 1986 has similar information from the OVPR only. The 1982 and 1987 Intellectual Property Manual define intellectual property and describe the university's policy, procedures, and the inventor's responsibilities to the university as does the related 1978 Patent Manual. University of Michigan Research and Development Resources: A Guide for Businesses published in 1993, serves as a ready reference guide to the resources that the university can offer small businesses including special conferences, economic development advice, affiliate programs and partnerships, and placement offices and co-op education programs. Newsletters such as the single issue of OVPR Newsletter give the latest news in the vice president's office in 1991 and the OVPR Bulletin dating from 1994 to 1996 describe not only what is going on in the area of research at the university, but also how Homer Neal, Vice President for Research, saw issues in the area of research, such as integrity of scholarship, financial conflicts of interest, accountability, and federal funding. The policy statements include an Interim Policy Statement on The Integrity of Scholarship and Investigating Allegations of Misconduct in the Pursuit of Scholarship and Research published in 1986, under the leadership of Linda Wilson, to encourage "ethical practices in scholarship." In 1993 Vice President Homer Neal issued a Policy and Program Update for Primary Research Staff. This update pulled policy statements, from the Board of Regents Bylaws, the Standard Practice Guide, the Affirmative Action Office, the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, and the Family Care Resources Office, together in one place as a ready-reference for primary researchers on campus.
The reports include a 1972 report Indirect Costs of Research, from the Office of the Vice President for Research at the request of the Commission of Resource Allocation to clarify the policies and procedures governing reimbursement of indirect costs to the university. In 1986 the Technology Transfer at the University of Michigan: Reality from Vision; the Plan that is Working was released. This report discusses the work of the Intellectual Property Office. Environmental and Hazardous Substances Research, published in 1990, describes research by the Michigan Universities Consortium for Hazardous Waste Management. This consortium of researchers from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University focused on the multidisciplinary activities needed to conduct research on the complex hazardous substances problems in the state. The report includes a directory of researchers, their research projects, and funding sources, bulletins describing graduate programs, and a breakdown of research funding.