The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) joined the InCommon Federation in 2009 to provide NSF’s research community easier access to online services using Research.gov. Using InCommon technology developed under NSF-funded awards, researchers and research administrators from participating InCommon organizations integrated with Research.gov can use their organization-issued credentials (user ID and password) to sign into Research.gov.
To see a listing of the organizations currently integrated with Research.gov, go to the Research.gov Sign in Page, select “Continue to Research.gov Sign In Options,” and select Sign In with Incommon(Org) Credentials.
What is InCommon?
InCommon is a non-profit organization offering services in federated identity management to its members consisting of institutions of higher education, federal agencies, research organizations, and corporations with affiliations with higher education in the U.S. and abroad. The InCommon Federation provides secure single sign-on access to cloud and local services, and global collaboration tools.
Using InCommon Credentials after NSF's Implementation of Research.gov Multifactor Authentication
NSF implemented multifactor authentication (MFA) for Research.gov in October 2024 as part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing security and safeguarding NSF's IT systems, user accounts, personal and scientific data, and the integrity of the merit review process. MFA is required each time a user signs into Research.gov. This extra step protects both the research community and NSF by helping to ensure that only authorized users can access Federal resources online. MFA for InCommon users is through their organization and not through Research.gov. See Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 25-011), MFA Options Overview, and the About Signing Into Research.gov page for additional information.
Users affiliated with InCommon Federation participating organizations can continue to use their organization-issued credentials to sign into Research.gov if the participating organization requires MFA for systems access and their organization is listed on the Research.gov Sign In page Organization Credentials list.
How Organizations Can Integrate with Research.gov through the InCommon Federation
If your organization is an InCommon member that has implemented MFA for IT systems access and is interested in integrating with Research.gov through the InCommon Federation, please send an email request to rgov@nsf.gov.
User Prerequisites to Use InCommon Credentials to Sign Into Research.gov
The user's organizational email must match their NSF account primary email.
InCommon users must register for an NSF account first to sign into Research.gov with their organization-issued credentials.
When signing into Research.gov with organization credentials the first time, the user's organization email and their NSF account primary email must match so the two accounts can be automatically linked. If Research.gov does not detect an email match for both accounts, the two accounts will not complete the auto-link process and the user will not be able to use organization credentials to sign into Research.gov.
If there is a mismatch between the user’s NSF account primary email and their organization email, the user should update their NSF account primary email to be the same as their organization email.
The user signs into Research.gov with their NSF account credentials and follows the step-by-step instructions in the View and Edit My NSF Account Profile Information job aid to update their NSF account primary email.
Users who have forgotten their NSF account password should see the NSF Account Password Reset Guide. If a user has forgotten their NSF ID or primary email address or does not have access to the primary email address for their NSF account, they must contact the NSF IT Service Desk for assistance.
Questions?
Please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1-800-381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or rgov@nsf.gov.