Federal Government Public Access Policies

In August 2022, Dr. Alondra Nelson of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a memo, Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research, which recommended that all federal agencies develop plans indicating how they will provide public access to the results of federally funded research. This memo followed and expanded on the 2013 memo Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research (aka the Holdren Memo).

The Nelson memo applies to ALL federal agencies (regardless of research budget), it includes both peer reviewed publications and their underlying data, and the ultimate goal is to provide free, immediate access to research. All agencies must have their policies implemented by December 31, 2025, although many agencies have set earlier effective dates for their policies.

In February 2013, Dr. John Holdren of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a memo, Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research, which recommended that federal agencies with more than $100 million in R&D expenditures develop plans indicating how they will provide public access to the results of federally funded research - generally within 12 months of publication.

The NIH Public Access Policy went into effect in 2008. It required all NIH supported researchers to submit their final peer-reviewed publications to PubMed Central, no later than 12 months after the date of publication.