What Think Tanks Can Do To Limit Conflicts Of Interest

It may be a cynical view to believe most think tanks exist to advance the interests of their donors. Plenty of think tanks do important work that wouldn't otherwise be done, and it doesn't make sense to try and categorize about 2,000 registered think tanks in the United States under a single umbrella. Some will surely use their political influence to maximize their financial potential, just as some will be likely to eschew

Think tanks have grown to fill a gap in research and discourse. It's only natural that there would be parties that could benefit from that gap being filled. Those parties stand to gain from being involved with think tanks, and think tanks stand to benefit from having patrons and donors to keep them afloat.

Here are a few suggestions that could help think tanks retain more credibility as independent parties:

1. Only accept donations to a general fund, not for research on a particular topic. Many think tanks will be devoted to studying a specific subject, which is perfectly acceptable. But when a corporation or individual donor can direct research on a specific topic in a specific direction, there's no way to avoid some conflict of interest. If Boeing donates to a think tank devoted to aviation research, that's fine. If Boeing donates to that think tank to specifically to fund research on a type of airframe that Boeing has engineered, then it's clear that the donor has too much influence.

2. Limit interaction between donors and elected officials. The influence of think tanks should be derived from their work, not from their access to politicians. Think tanks can exist in a middle area between donors and politicians; that does not mean the think tanks should directly facilitate interaction between the two.

3. Set stricter standards for pre-publication review of research. Journalists are expected to check on facts with their subjects before publication, but cannot send a full draft to subjects before a work is published. It makes more sense for think tanks to send a copy of research to their donors before the work is published, but they should be very wary of any pushback received. It's one thing to give donors a heads-up on research findings or the benefit of having the first set of eyes on a paper. It's another to accept changes directly from a donor before a piece is published.