In a major milestone for the open access movement, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, or OSTP, has directed all federal departments and agencies to make the results of taxpayer-supported research available to the American public at no cost. But how quickly that policy directive is implemented remains unclear—and the publishing industry remains strongly opposed to the move.
The announcement came in an August 25 memorandum. In a release, OSTP head Alondra Nelson said the administration would work with agencies to update their public access and data-sharing plans by mid-2023, with the expectation that all agencies will have updated public access policies “fully implemented” by the end of 2025.
Publishers, who have strongly opposed such efforts in the past, expressed concern over the new policy. “In a no-embargo environment, in which private publications will be made immediately available by the government for free, our primary concerns are about business sustainability and quality,” said Shelley Husband, AAP senior v-p for government affairs. “As we work with the administration and Congress in the days ahead, our focus will be to preserve our nation’s leadership in research and innovation, and to ensure that we continue to have a vibrant independent industry for scholarly publications.”
The new policy is the culmination of a nearly 20-year effort by public access advocates and comes after numerous administrative and legislative actions over the years to make taxpayer-funded research available to the public for free. And while the policy could certainly change or be delayed again, either by legislation or by a new executive mandate, Nelson said she was confident the current timeline gives all stakeholders—agencies, researchers, publishers, and scholarly societies—ample time to plan and “some flexibility” in crafting new access policies that will ensure that taxpayer-funded research is publicly accessible, without an embargo or cost.
“The American people fund tens of billions of dollars of cutting-edge research annually. There should be no delay or barrier between the American public and the returns on their investments in research,” Nelson said in announcing the policy. “When research is widely available to other researchers and the public, it can save lives, provide policymakers with the tools to make critical decisions, and drive more equitable outcomes across every sector of society.”
