Funding Agencies Requirements

As a result of the 2022 OSTP Nelson memo, federal funders were directed to update their public access policies. The information on the linked pages below will likely change throughout 2024 and 2025. This page will be updated when funders release final versions of their policies.

In 1999, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget amended OMB Circular A-110 to require research data produced with funding from Federal agencies be made publicly available through procedures established through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Federally funded research - access to publications and data

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a policy memorandum, “Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research,” on February 22, 2013. This memorandum was updated in the summer of 2022 in the memorandum "Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research", directing all federal agencies (not just those with more than $100 million in research expenditures) to create plans for providing immediate public access to the research they fund (publications and data).

Below is a summary table of public access plans for many of the federal funding agencies that fall under the OSTP memo.

The majority of federal funding agencies listed below, require a Data Management Plan (DMP). After consulting the requirements for your agency, you can get started writing a DMP.

Federally funded research requirements by Agency 

AGENCY – PUBLIC ACCESS PLANS ARTICLE SOLUTION ARTICLE DEPOSIT DEADLINE DATA SOLUTION DATA DEPOSIT DEADLINE DMP REQUIREMENT

American Heart Association

 

 PubMed Central (PMC), see AHA Quick Guide. See HRA Open and HRA Open Guide for Awardees for instructions Within 12 months of publication Submit to one of the AHA approved subject repositories, see AHA Data Quick Guide Within 12 months of end of funding period Yes, see Sample Data Plans
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality PubMed Central (PMC) Upon acceptance Commercial repository, TBD. At time of article acceptance Yes, see Digital Data section
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response PubMed Central (PMC) Upon acceptance A recognized scientific data repository; submit metadata to ASPR for deposit in Data.gov registry At time of article acceptance or 30 months, whichever is sooner Yes
Centers for Disease Control CDC Stacks and PubMed Central (PMC) using NIHMS submission system Upon acceptance Multiple repository options Within 30 months of collection Yes
Dept. of Defense Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), see Dept. of Defense Quick Guide Upon acceptance DTIC centralized data catalog and Dept. of Defense Data Quick Guide At time of article publication Yes
Dept. of Energy Public Access Gateway for Energy and Science (PAGES), see Dept. of Energy Quick Guide Upon acceptance Publicly accessible repositories that meet requirements, see Dept. of Energy Data Quick Guide  At time of article publication Yes, see DMP Suggested Elements
Dept. of Transportation DOT National Transportation Library (NTL) Upon Acceptance Publicly accessible repositories that meet requirements At time of article publication Yes, see Section 7.4.2
Institute of Education Sciences ERIC for post-publication, see Dept. of Education Quick Guide Upon Acceptance Data must be available for at least 10 years - researcher repository choice, see Dept. of Education Data Quick Guide At time of article publication Yes, see DMP Requirement and Responsibility
Food & Drug Administration PubMed Central (PMC) using NIHMS submission system Upon Acceptance Disciplinary data repository   At time of article publication Yes, see DMP Requirements. See Section IV.B.i (page 9)
National Aeronautics & Space Administration NASA-branded PMC portal, PubSpace, see NASA Quick Guide Upon Acceptance PubSpace, PMC portal alongside article, NASA archives, or disciplinary data repository, see NASA Data Quick Guide At time of article publication or within reasonable time after publication Yes, see Data Management Plans. See Part A, 4.0
National Institutes of Health PubMed Central (PMC), see NIH Quick Guide Upon Acceptance NIH Data Sharing Repositories; or any widely used or institutional repository. At time of article publication Yes, see NIH Data management  & Sharing Plan guidance
National Institute of Standards & Technology PubMed Central (PMC) Upon Acceptance Enterprise Data Inventory (EDI) dataset registry and Common Access Platform through Data.gov At time of article publication Yes, see Guidance for Review of DMPs
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration NOAA Institutional Repository using CDC Stacks Upon Acceptance Long term - NOAA National Data Centers; multiple short term solutions. At time of article publication or within 2 years of data collection Yes, see Data Management Planning 
National Science Foundation NSF-PAR (Public Access Repository), see NSF Quick Guide Upon Acceptance An appropriate disciplinary repository of your choosing, public access through Data.gov , see NSF Data Quick Guide "Within a reasonable timeframe" Yes, see Plans for data management and sharing, also refer to specific NSF Directorates
Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Research Online (SRO) or CHORUS Within 12 months of publication or negotiated period SRO or approved community-supported or discipline-specific repository, or via CHORUS   At time of article publication or negotiated period Yes, see Data Management Policy
U.S. Agency for International Development Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) N/A Development Data Library (DDL) or a publicly accessible research database, with links to Data.gov  In accordance with the provisions of the award; upon completion of their data analysis See Public Access Plan, section 4.1.3

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

 

 

U.S. Dept of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture

 

 USDA public access archive system (PubAg)  Upon article acceptance

USDA registry of datasets, Ag Data Commons

 

Recommend using platforms etc. such as Ag Data Commons

 

  

Yes, part of Phase 2 (not implemented yet) Requirements

 

Yes, see Data Management Plan guidance

 
U.S. Geological Survey Information Product Data System (IPDS)  & USGS Publications Warehouse, see USGS Quick Guide At time of publication ScienceBase.gov , see USGS Data Quick Guide Following data verification and approval Yes, see DMP Requirements (updated April 2023). See section 9.2 (page 13)
Veteran’s Administration PubMed Central (PMC) Upon article acceptance Partnering with HHS, NIH, FDA, and DoD; public access solution to data TBD -- Yes, DMP requirements. See Requirement for Data Management Plans (page 5)