A Practical Guide to Research Security Screening

Research security screening is becoming an operating requirement for Canadian universities. The goal is not to stop international collaboration. The goal is to understand who is involved, what affiliations matter, which sources were checked, and where human review should continue.

Why Research Security Screening Matters

International research collaborations drive innovation across Canadian universities. But these partnerships also create compliance obligations under the NSGRP and STRAC frameworks.

Research security screening helps institutions assess potential risks before formalizing partnerships - not after an incident surfaces.

What a Structured Screening Process Looks Like

A defensible screening process follows a clear sequence: identity resolution, sanctions checking, co-publication network analysis, adverse signal detection, and institutional verification.

Each step builds on the previous one. Skipping identity resolution means everything downstream may apply to the wrong person.

The Role of Automation

Manual screening takes days to weeks per collaborator. Automated platforms compress this into minutes while maintaining a structured, auditable trail.

The key is transparency: every finding should be linked to its source, include a confidence level, and disclose known limitations.