Federal Agencies Funding Requirements: Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandums

On August 25, 2022, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) updated U.S. policy guidance to make the results of taxpayer-supported research immediately available to the American public at no cost. See Frequently Asked Questions: 2022 Public Access Policy Guidance. All federal agencies will fully implement updated policies, including ending the optional 12-month embargo, no later than December 31, 2025. See the Nelson memo: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf

• See the accompanying report: Economic Landscape of Federal Public Access Policy A Report by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 August 2022.
   

This builds on the 2013 Obama administration’s Memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Science which directed all federal departments and agencies with more than $100 million in annual research and development expenditures to develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the federal government, with a focus on access to scholarly publications and digital data resulting from such research. See the Holdren memo: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf

See:

• 2021 OSTP report on progress of public access
• 2013 & 2022 memo comparison
• Letter to OSTP from House Committee on Science, Space & Technology members
   

A data management plan is required by federal funding agencies with proposal submissions.