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GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 54 of these basic research products dealing with mineral deposits cannot be over- emphasized. Research on mineral deposits should consist of both basic and applied research. Basic research includes the documentation of time-space characteristics and the genesis of mineral occurrences. Applied research includes the application of basic research to the discovery of mineral deposits, to the assessment of terranes for their mineral potential, and to the evaluation of the environmental characteristics of unmined and mined mineral deposits. Basic and applied research on mineral deposits is fundamental to the successful design and implementation of field and laboratory techniques under the Mitigation Studies, Assessments, and Resource Investigations Subprograms of the MRSP. Scientific Integrity The USGS has an enviable and well-deserved reputation for an extremely high level of scientific integrity. Every effort must be made to maintain this reputation. To avoid the inadvertent loss of scientific integrity, it is important that the USGS have a unified approach for addressing issues of data quality, and that this approach is followed by the MRSP. Every care must be taken to maintain scientific and reporting standards and to be absolutely clear and unambiguous on how measurement were made and how reliable they are. As the USGS increasingly uses outside laboratories or a central USGS laboratory, the original research investigators will have less control over the quality of the analytical work conducted on field samples that they collect. This lack of control can be remedied by preparing detailed quality control protocols for collection, handling, preservation, and analysis of field samples. A standardized approach to these processes will also increase the accessibility and usability of the data. MRSP scientists should work collaboratively with users to design quality assurance and control programs that meet user needs.
