Federal Public Access Mandates
In February 2013, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a memorandum directing each Federal agency that provides over $100 million in annual research funding to develop a plan to increase public access to the results of the funded research. The directive addresses both publications and digital data.
The agency plans are now being implemented, and are designed to ensure that the public can read, download, and analyze in digital form final peer-reviewed manuscripts or final published documents, no more than 12 months after publication.
Plans are in development for maximizing access to digitally formatted scientific data to the general public, also free of charge. Most agencies are now requiring data management plans as part of grant proposals.
The University Library’s Guide to Federal Public Access Mandates outlines requirements for publications and data, with links to each agency plan. If you have questions about open public access, please contact scholarworks@gsu.edu. If you have questions about compliance with funder mandates, contact the Research Office.
Congress is also considering requiring public access to federally funded research, and the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act of 2015, is currently introduced in the House and Senate.