PLOS cheers the OSTP memorandum “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research”

"We were thrilled last Thursday to read Dr. Alondra Nelson’s United States Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum on the subject of “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” 

The vision expressed in the memo represents a tremendous step toward the future of scientific research communication that PLOS has been working toward since our founding in 2001. It truly is a watershed moment for the US research community and everyone who has a stake in scientific communications.

The memo requires US federal granting bodies to develop and implement new policies making all tax-payer funded scholarly research and underlying raw data freely and publicly available without embargo by 2026. Importantly, the guidance applies to all federal agencies with R&D expenditures, regardless of budget size or the subject area of the research being funded.

In the coming weeks and months, we will consider and expand on what this memo, and other policy advancements around the world, mean for Open Scholarship and Open Science, and how we can all play our part."