Distinctions Emerge in U.S. Government Plans for Expanding Access to Research

Research funded by the U.S. government is finally going to be available for anyone to read and cite, based on plans laid out by the agencies that administer the funding. Recently, several agencies have released plans that are all based on the February 2013 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies. That order required the development of new policies to provide expanded access to the research being funded by the U.S. government. In addition, Congress included public access requirements in the FY 2014 Omnibus for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education. The memo and the legislation impact 24 agencies that spend at least $100 million in research funding annually. Each plan is customized and includes the approaches the agencies will take to address two very different requirements: public access to research publications and public access to the data associated with that research.