FOIA Information

Obtaining A Closeout Memorandum
Or Investigation Report For An NSF OIG Case

Investigation reports and case closeout memoranda for closed cases are available to the public upon request within the limits of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552), the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a), and NSF’s regulations. Click here for General information about FOIA and the Privacy Act; NSF’s FOIA and Privacy Act regulations are published in 45 C.F.R. parts 612 and 613, respectively.

A FOIA request for one or more NSF OIG investigation reports or closeout memoranda may be submitted to the NSF OIG FOIA Officer via mail (4201 Wilson Blvd, Room II-705, Arlington VA 22230), fax (703-292-9159) or email.

The request must reasonably describe the specific records desired and must state that you will promptly pay the total fees chargeable under the regulation (see 45 C.F.R. § 612.10) or set a maximum amount you are willing to pay. Generally a single request for a limited number of investigation reports / closeout memoranda will not result in any fee because NSF does not charge if fees would total less than $25.

The request should not identify a case by the name or other individually identifiable information about a person involved in the case, unless the case resulted in successful criminal prosecution or recent civil legal action against that person, or that person is currently debarred or voluntarily excluded governmentwide. Examples of suitable descriptions are:

“All research misconduct cases closed [in the past 3 months] <or> [between March-May 2002].”

“The case discussed on pages [#-#] of the [date or #] NSF OIG Semiannual Report to the Congress.”