Information for Contractors

Contractors for the Highway (NCHRP), Transit (TCRP), Airport (ACRP), and Behavioral Traffic Safety (BTSCRP) Cooperative Research Programs are required to comply with the Procedural Manual for Contractors Conducting Research in the Transportation Research Board's Cooperative Research Programs (updated November 2024). Particular issues that are often of concern are further addressed below. Process Documentation and Technical Guidance for developing ACRP WebResources can be found at crp.trb.org.

Principal Investigators performing work on NCHRP, TCRP, or ACRP Syntheses of Practice should follow the guidance in Information for Principal Investigators Preparing Syntheses (updated September 2021). Principal Investigators performing work on NCHRP, TCRP, or Rail Safety IDEA projects should refer to the IDEA Report Guidelines.

Conflict of Interest

Contractors must ensure that they remain in compliance with Cooperative Research Program Conflict of Interest requirements for the duration of their contract. If a conflict of interest develops or becomes known during the conduct of research, the contract is subject to termination. Refer to the CRP Conflict of Interest Resource Page for more information.

Subcontract Approval

Subcontracts over $25,000 must be approved by the National Academy of Sciences before they are executed. Draft subcontracts should be submitted in hard copy to the Contract Administrator designated in the contract. See section 3.7 of the Procedural Manual for more information. 

Quarterly Progress Reports*

Quarterly progress reports (QPRs) for CRP research projects are due within 5 business days of the end of each calendar quarter (i.e., 3/31, 6/30, 9/30, 12/31). QPRs are critical to reviews, by the respective staff and panel, of a project's progress and must be in sufficient detail to communicate achievements to date and future work, including potential problems. The QPR must include an exhibit showing the progress on the project tasks and the budget status. See section 2.7 of the Procedural Manual for more information.

*QPRs are not generally required for syntheses and legal studies. For IDEA projects, please see guidelines above.

Surveys

Many projects include a survey of transportation agencies. These can often be burdensome to the agency staff and care should be taken in their design and in determining the best person to receive the survey. 

Invoicing

Invoices should use this Excel form as described in the Procedural Manual. Invoices for fixed-price contracts should include a copy of the payment schedule.  Questions regarding invoices should be addressed to the individuals below according to Program.

Report Preparation and Delivery for CRP Research Reports

Principal investigators should review Chapter 5 of the Procedural Manual as they begin to develop material for the final products of the research. Chapter 5 also includes information on obtaining necessary copyright permissions, including a sample letter for requesting permissions.

As an informational resource, the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) offers short videos (many under 5 minutes long) that address common questions about what is protected by copyright, how attribution differs from copyright permission, what "open access" means, use of images or video in presentations or video, and other topics. To access the videos, go to https://www.copyright.com/learn/resources/ and use the "Filter Resources" button to select "Copyright," "Videos," and, if desired, a "Professional Area."

Contractors may elect to use the CRP-developed Microsoft Word template, CRP_format_template.dot, to format deliverables. Information on how to use the template is provided in the two-page guide CRP_Word-Template-Guide.doc. CRP_Sample_format.doc provides a sample of text formatted using the styles in the template. Further information on formatting deliverables is available in Chapter 5 of the Procedural Manual or by contacting the CRP editors via email at crpeditors@nas.edu.

Webinars on Final Products

TRB's webinar program features Cooperative Research Program publications and other TRB publications. If principal investigators or members of the project panel are interested in conducting a webinar on the results of a project, they are encouraged to contact the TRB Staff Officer for more details about considering a webinar in the TRB program.