March 19, 2015

NSF Publishes Public Access Plan

The National Science Foundation has announced a plan to increase public access to scientific publications and digital scientific data resulting from research the foundation funds.

According to the press release, “NSF will require that articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and papers in juried conference proceedings or transactions be deposited in a public access compliant repository and be available for download, reading and analysis within one year of publication.”

The NSF Public Access site states that the “NSF requirement will apply to new awards resulting from proposals submitted, or due, on or after the effective date of the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that will be issued in January 2016. This recommended change to the PAPPG will be announced in the Federal Register no later than April 2015 and will follow government-wide procedures for public notice and comment.”

The Association of Research Libraries maintains a list of federal agency public access plans and policies complying with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum, Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research, issued in 2013.