About ICRG
The mission of the ICRG is to help individuals and families affected by gambling disorder and to prevent the onset of gambling problems through high quality scientific research and evidence-based educational programming on gambling disorder and responsible gambling.
As the gaming industry grows and evolves throughout the world, the powerful research of the International Center for Responsible Gaming is driving change and leading the field forward. Since 1996, we have provided independent, peer-reviewed research that helps increase the understanding of gambling harms and find effective methods of mitigation. Our work is impacting public policy, strengthening responsible gambling and improving the health and well-being of the people and communities affected by the continued growth of the industry.
Nearly $40 million has been committed to the ICRG, through contributions from the casino gaming industry, equipment manufacturers, vendors, sports wagering companies, tribal casinos, related organizations and individuals. The funding chart below provides a detailed description of how the ICRG firewall protects the integrity of the research we fund.
ICRG Firewall
The ICRG’s research program is funded primarily by companies involved in the gambling industry. Because of concern about undue influence or bias, the ICRG created a firewall to insulate the research from industry influence. First, all of ICRG’s funding initiatives are developed and approved by the Scientific Advisory Board, an independent panel of prominent scientists in the addictions. Second, calls for proposals are distributed to more than 1,000 scientists around the world. Third, grant applications submitted to the ICRG are vetted by independent peer review panels composed of leading scientists in the gambling field. Fourth, their evaluations are then reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board, which makes the final funding decisions. Neither the governing board nor the donors have any input into this process, and research findings are not announced until published in a peer-reviewed journal. The successful publications records of ICRG-funded investigators—more than 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals since 1996—demonstrates that quality is what drives the ICRG research grants program.
History
Prior to the establishment of the ICRG in 1996, the field of gambling research was undeveloped and lacked a substantial number of peer-reviewed studies on gambling- related risks. From its beginning, the ICRG was committed to reversing this trend, becoming the first serious funding source in the area of gambling research. The ICRG introduced a commitment to rigorous scientific standards into the field, including an insistence that, to be taken seriously, all research had to be peer-reviewed. As a result of this commitment, ICRG-funded studies have yielded more than 400 scholarly articles published in highly competitive, peer-reviewed scientific journals.
With approximately one-third of the total amount of research on gambling risks published between 1999 and 2003, much of what we know about gambling risks today has been learned only in the past few years. This is due, in part, to the availability of funding from the ICRG. The ICRG is proud to have played a role in this dramatic increase of knowledge about the potential health consequences of gambling. To learn more about the many accomplishments in the ICRG’s history, visit the ICRG Milestones page. For a listing of donors who helped to establish the ICRG, visit the Original Donors page.
