White House Directive Mandates OA

Last Friday the White House issued a statement to announce its commitment to increasing access to the results of federally funded research. John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, directed federal agencies with more than 100 million in research and development expenditures to develop open access policies within the next six months. This statement was accompanied by the new policy memorandum and the long awaited response to last summer’s We the People petition.

The directive came a mere eight days after the introduction of FASTR. The new policy reflects the legislation’s goals, but one notable difference between the two is embargo length. FASTR caps embargoes at six months and the directive permits embargoes up to 12 months. Peter Suber commented on the need for both FASTR and the directive:

The two approaches complement one another. FASTR does not make the White House directive unnecessary. FASTR may never be adopted. And if it is adopted, it will be after some time for study, education, lobbying, amendment, negotiation, and debate. By contrast, the White House directive takes effect today. The wheels are already turning. Compared to this executive action, FASTR is slower. … Similarly, the White House directive does not make FASTR unnecessary. On the contrary, we need legislation to codify federal OA policies. The next president could rescind today’s White House directive, but could not rescind legislation. (One lesson: Don’t let up on efforts to persuade Congress to pass FASTR.)

Read Peter Suber’s full post here.

Following the announcement many organizations released statements of support. The Association of Research Libraries commended the directive, calling it ”historic.” SPARC applauded President Obama and Executive Director Heather Joseph praised the administration for a “major step forward towards open access to scientific research.”

Additionally, the Association of American Publishers released a statement in support of the directive. Tom Allen, President and CEO of APP, said that, “in stark contract to angry rhetoric and unreasonable legislation offered by some, the OSTP takes a fair path that would enhance access for the public.” In a previous statement the AAP called FASTR the “same boondoggle.”

Read the full policy memorandum here.