The Right to Deposit - Statement

"With the forthcoming release of new federal agency public access plans as a result of the White House Office of Science and Technology Planning (OSTP) public access guidance (“the Nelson memo”), federally-funded authors will face new requirements to deposit their scholarly publications, without an embargo, in agency-designated public access repositories. These requirements will impact authors, their institutions, and especially the offices that deal with research funding and grant compliance. Libraries will continue to play a key role in advancing open access through multiple pathways and engaging authors in scholarly publishing and research data management.

For many authors this will be an entirely new requirement; for others, who were already required to deposit their articles within 12 months, this will mean a shorter timeline for compliance. Some authors may not realize they need to deposit their articles even if they publish open access. Other authors may understand the deposit requirement, but not how to balance obligations to their funder and their publisher when publishing in a subscription-based journal. In a worst-case scenario, authors who do not understand their grant requirements and the legal landscape may face negative enforcement actions from funders, disputes about copyrights or contracts, or roadblocks to publishing....

Thus, we, as signatories to this statement, support reliance on the Federal purpose license by federal agencies for implementation of the Nelson memo. We encourage federal agencies to explain the license in their public access plans, FAQs and other supporting documentation, and grant instruments. Doing so will provide grant recipients with a clear understanding of their obligations as authors, facilitate better compliance with funder requirements, and help realize “the benefits of federally funded research that the American public deserves” envisioned by the Nelson memo...."