Public Access to Federally Funded Research: Basics and Beyond

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, under the leadership of Dr. Alondra Nelson, issued the "Nelson Memo" on August 25, 2022 to provide guidance to all federal agencies about how to make all publicly-funded research immediately available at no cost to the American public. Federal agencies had until 12/31/2024 to issue their own guidelines with an implementation deadline of 12/31/2025. The NIH accelerated its implementation to 7/1/2025. 

Highlights:

• Research outputs (data & manuscripts) produced from federal agency grants obtained after implementation must be made freely available immediately in the repository designated by granting agency. Agencies can include other outputs, such as book chapters or books, in their public access mandates.
• All researchers receiving federal funding are required to obtain and use an ORCiD ID as the preferred digital persistent identifier. 
• Contact the Scholarly Communications team for guidance.

Principles:

• Immediate and free access - the public can review and use research without cost or delay.
• Transparency and integrity - by providing research analysis and associated data with persistent identifiers and metadata, the public can validate and replicate the science.
• Equity - everyone, regardless of position or means, can use research.
• Collaboration - free, immediate availability and persistent identifiers encourage exchange between researchers, practitioners and citizens to build upon the research.

The Nelson Memo replaced The Holdren Memo issued in 2013 by then OSTP Director John Holdren. The Association of Research Libraries created this excellent resource for comparing policy differences between the two memos.

The sections of this guide are designed to help you answer questions such as:

• Do all federal agencies have public access requirements?
• What types of research outputs are covered?
• What do I have to do to comply with my funder's mandate?
• Do I have to pay a fee to comply?
• Can I publish my research in the journal of my choice?
• Which publishers allow for a zero-embargo deposit without charge?

Funder mandates and research publication requirements can be complex, confusing and transitory. We cannot offer you legal advice, but we can discuss your options and connect you with additional resources. We're a team of librarians at the ready to consult with you. Please contact us at scholarlypublishing@library.umass.edu.

The following resources provide additional guidance and details about making federally funded research publicly available:

• Authors Alliance FAQ to assist authors comply with the accelerated NIH Public Access Policy. While this is written to the NIH policy, it touches on principles and practices that are more broadly applicable.
• Authors Alliance Legal Pathways to Open Access provides guidance (& white papers) on open access and U.S. Federal Information, as well as the legal basis for U.S. federal public access mandates.
• HELIOS Open Federal Purpose License Factsheet offers a graphical representation of key takeaways, definitions and frequently asked questions about the legal underpinning of public access.
• Jisc Open Policy Finder resource provides information about most publisher policies.
• SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Guide for Authors Complying with U.S. Federal Agency Public Access and Publisher Policies offers authors tips and resources from prior to applying for federal funding, before submitting federally funded manuscript to a journal for publication, upon acceptance of a manuscript by a journal through longer term options and opportunities for institutional change.
• SPARC Directories: Publication and Data Sharing Requirements by Federal Agency. Separate guidance for publication and data, by agency.