Federal agency policies for public access

Access for federally funded research

On August 25, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a policy memorandum directed to the heads of federal executive departments and agencies, focused on “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” Known as the Nelson Memo after Dr. Alondra Nelson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for Science and Society, OSTP, the policy updates the earlier Holdren Memo from 2013.

Publication and data access policies of top UA federal funding agencies

The list below includes the top federal funding agencies of research at the University of Arizona. Follow the links for brief descriptions of the policies for these agencies and where to get further help. The Public Access Working Group is available to help all researchers address public access requirements, regardless of their source of funding.

American Heart Association

• Submit articles within 12 months of publication. See our AHA publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository within 12 months of the end of funding period. See our AHA data access guide.
• View the full AHA open science policy.

Department of Defense

• Submit articles upon acceptance. See our DOD publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. see our DOD data access guide.
• View the full DOD public access plan.

Department of Education

• Submit articles upon acceptance. See our Department of Education publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of acceptance. See our Department of Education data access guide.
• View the full Department of Education public access plan.
• View the Institute of Education Sciences public access to research policy.

Department of Energy

• Submit articles upon acceptance. See our DOE publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. see our DOE data access guide.
• View the full DOE public access plan.

National Aeronautics & Space Administration

• Submit articles upon acceptance. See our NASA publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. See our NASA data access guide.
• View the full NASA public access plan.

National Institute of Health

• Submit articles upon acceptance. See our NIH publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. 
• View the full NIH public access plan.

National Science Foundation

• Submit articles upon publication. See our NSF publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. See our NSF data access guide.
• View the full NSF public access plan.

U.S. Geological Survey

• Submit articles at time of publication. See our USGS publication access guide.
• Submit data sets to repository at the time of publication. See our USGS data access guide.
• View the full USGS public access plan.

Other agencies

For information about other agencies' policies, SPARC has created a resource for tracking and comparing U.S. federal agency policies.

Contact us

For assistance, email the Public Access Working Group.