Taxpayers to Get Immediate Access to Publicly Funded Research | SPARC

White House issues new guidance that will speed progress toward curing diseases, preventing pandemics, mitigating climate change, and more.

Washington, DC (August 25, 2022) – As a result of action taken today by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), taxpayer-funded research will be immediately available for the public to freely access and fully use. The new guidance issued to all federal agencies will eliminate the current 12-month waiting period for access to research outputs, including articles and data. 

“This is an enormous leap forward,” said Heather Joseph, Executive Director of SPARC, which has worked for more than two decades to accelerate open access to research. “For the first time, everyone will have free and immediate access to the results of all federally funded research to speed solutions for global challenges—from cancer to climate change.”

Currently, U.S. taxpayers spend over $80 billion on research each year. The government funds this research in order to advance discovery, spur the economy, accelerate innovation, and improve the lives of citizens. Yet too often the articles that report on the results of this research are locked behind expensive paywalls. The world learned how critical open access to research was during COVID-19. In 2020, paywalls were lifted for coronavirus articles, enabling scientists and doctors to access the latest research without delay and leading to the fastest development of a vaccine in history. 

Now, the public will be guaranteed the same fast access to information on countless other areas critical to their lives. Today’s action will unlock both the articles reporting on the results of federally funded research and the data needed to validate their results. It will enable scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and communities to more quickly turn research into real-world applications that can benefit everyone.

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