Skip to main content

Fifth U.S. Open Government National Action Plan
Commitment Tracker

Commitment:

Broaden Public Access to Federally-Funded Research Findings and Data

Full Commitment Text OGP Commitment Page

Progress for this commitment is tracked based on the following sub-commitment(s). You can also view the full text of this commitment.

US0116.1	Going forward, the Government commits to supporting access to Federally-funded science and data through several mechanisms, including through the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Open Science;
Agency & Subagency	Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy
Sub-Commitment Status	In Progress
February 2024 Progress	Progress Update: The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) continues to coordinate development of agency public access plans providing immediate and free public access to federally funded research publications and data through the Subcommittee on Open Science. Since OSTP updated the Open Government Commitment Tracker in August 2023, agencies with research and development expenditures have submitted their updated or newly developed public access plans for OSTP review. Several agencies have publicly posted their plans for community engagement and comment. In addition, agencies have collaborated through the Subcommittee on Open Science to host joint public engagement opportunities, including through listening sessions, to share the status of public access policy development efforts and to receive input from the community. To provide updates on agency efforts to coordinate open science and public access policies and programs, CENDI, an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information managers, has refreshed open.science.gov, a site developed and maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). Evidence: Plans Released Since August 2023: U.S. Geological Survey Plan: https://www.usgs.gov/office-of-science-quality-and-integrity/public-access-results-federally-funded-research-us U.S. Department of Agriculture Plan: https://www.nal.usda.gov/services/public-access Social Security Administration Plan: https://www.ssa.gov/data/data_governance_board/SSA Public Access Plan.pdf U.S. Census Bureau Plan: https://www.census.gov/about/policies/open-gov.html Administration for Community Living Plan: https://acl.gov/news-and-events/announcements/acl-releasing-plan-expand-public-access-requirements Additional plans can be found on open.science.gov: https://www.science.gov/Public-Access-Plans-Guidance.html Examples of interagency public engagement efforts on public access policy development: “How can public access advance equity and learning?” webinar co-hosted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), with representation from OSTP, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): https://www.aaas.org/events/how-can-public-access-advance-equity-and-learning “Enhancing Public Access to the Results of Research Supported by the Department of Health and Human Services” National Academies workshop sponsored by NIH, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Administration for Community Living (ACL), and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF): https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/40741_11-2023_enhancing-public-access-to-the-results-of-research-supported-by-the-department-of-health-and-human-services-a-workshop “
August 2023 Progress	The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) continues to coordinate development of agency public access plans through the Subcommittee on Open Science. All agencies with over $100 million in annual research and development expenditures have submitted their updated public access plans for OSTP review, with several publicly posting their plans for community engagement and comment. NIH Plan AHRQ Plan NASA Plan NSF Plan DOE Plan NIST Plan

US0116.2	The Government commits to supporting access to Federally-funded science and data… by permitting researchers to include publication and data sharing costs in their research budget proposals to Federal grant programs;
Agency & Subagency	Executive Office of the President Office of Science and Technology Policy
Sub-Commitment Status	Complete
February 2024 Progress	Progress Update: This commitment was previously completed. Evidence: See previous update
August 2023 Progress	Included in the 2022 OSTP Public Access Memo is the guidance that, 'In consultation with OMB, federal agencies should allow researchers to include reasonable publication costs and costs associated with submission, curation, management of data, and special handling instructions as allowable expenses in all research budgets.' Agencies are now working on their public access policies that allow for these reasonable costs. These policies are expected to be publicly posted by December 31, 2024 and will go into effect by December 31, 2025. To date, the National Institute of Health released updated guidance for including these costs and evidence of that guidance can be found here – https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/planning-and-budgeting-for-data-management-and-sharing/budgeting-for-data-management-sharing#after.

US0116.3	The Government commits to supporting access to Federally-funded science and data… by launching programs aimed at awarding more grants to early-stage researchers as well as encouraging a diverse pool of award applicants;
Agency & Subagency	Office of Science and Technology Policy Science and Society team
Sub-Commitment Status	In Progress
February 2024 Progress	Progress Update: In January 2023, the White House declared 2023 a Year of Open Science, a multi-agency initiative coordinated through the Subcommittee on Open Science to advance national open science policies (see links below). Several activities center on engaging early-stage researchers and researchers from historically excluded backgrounds. Since OSTP’s August 2023 update to the Open Government Commitment Tracker, and as part of a Year of Open Science, NSF issued a Request for Information on improving equity throughout the research lifecycle, making data and opportunities available to all researchers. Agencies have continued to advance training opportunities to diverse communities to promote open science skill building. For example, in December 2023, NASA released its openly available Open Science 101 curriculum with a goal to train 20,000 scientists and researchers over the next five years, while working to reduce barriers to entry. Evidence: OSTP fact sheet celebrating the anniversary of the launch of the 2023 Year of Open Science NSF Request for Information on Ensuring Open, Immediate, and Equitable Access to National Science Foundation Funded Research NASA press release on Open Science 101’s release and building an open, inclusive science community
August 2023 Progress	In January 2023, the White House declared 2023 a Year of Open Science, a multi-agency initiative coordinated through the Subcommittee on Open Science to advance national open science policies (see links below). Several activities center on engaging early-stage researchers and researchers from historically excluded backgrounds, including a series of listening sessions with early career researchers to understand and elevate their needs, priorities, and experiences in advancing open science. https://open.science.gov/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/01/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-advance-open-and-equitable-research/ NASA Boosts Open Science through Innovative Training, NASA https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/releases/2023/nasa-boosts-open-science-through-innovative-training NSF Invests in Ten Open Science Research Coordination Networks to Promote Open Science https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/advancedSearchResult?PIId=&ProgRefCode=121Z

US0116.4	The Government commits to supporting access to Federally-funded science and data… by exploring new incentive structures to recognize institutions and researchers who are supporting public access to data and research.
Agency & Subagency	Office of Science and Technology Policy
Sub-Commitment Status	In Progress
February 2024 Progress	Progress Update: In January 2023, the OSTP announced 2023 as a Year of Open Science to advance national open science policies and promote the adoption of open science. Agency activities and engagements throughout the year focused on a number of key themes, including activities to incentivize the adoption of open science practices. To recognize stories of federally supported open science success, OSTP launched the Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge on Challenge.gov, which closed in December 2023. The Challenge received nearly 150 submissions and OSTP is in the process of evaluating responses. Agencies have also participated in discussions with the leaders in the academic research community around incentive structures to recognize and reward open research practices. In January 2024, NASA sponsored a workshop by the Higher Education Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship (HELIOS) on modernizing tenure, promotion, review, and hiring to reward open scholarship and public access. Evidence: The White House Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge Link: https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=ostp-year-of-open-science-recognition-challenge NASA Workshop link: https://www.heliosopen.org/nasa-fiu-helios-open-scholarship-leadership-workshop
August 2023 Progress	As part of a Year of Open Science, Government agencies continue to engage with their stakeholder communities on strategies to advance incentives to recognize and reward open science practices. OSTP hosts listening sessions with the early career researcher community.