On August 25, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued the Nelson Memo, Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research. This memo establishes updated federal requirements for public access to research outputs.
Key provisions:
Immediate public access is required for peer-reviewed scholarly publications and associated research data.
The 12-month embargo period allowed under prior policy is eliminated.
All federal agencies that fund research must comply, expanding beyond the Holdren Memo’s limitation to agencies with annual R&D budgets over $100 million.
How will my research output be impacted by the Nelson Memo?
The two types of output specifically mentioned in the Nelson Memo are peer-reviewed publications and scientific data. Also included are peer-reviewed book chapters, editorials, and conference proceedings.
Under the Nelson Memo, an accepted manuscript or the final published version must be immediately accessible, removing the previous 12-month delay. The data that underlies that publication must also be made available immediately.
Which research outputs are subject to the Nelson Memo requirements?
The "Nelson Memo" states that agency plans must address both “peer reviewed publications” and “scientific data.”
“Peer-reviewed publications” include:
“peer-reviewed research articles or final manuscripts published in scholarly journals”
and may include “peer-reviewed book chapters, editorials, and peer-reviewed conference proceedings published in other scholarly outlets that result from federally funded research.”
“Scientific data” include:
“the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the scientific community as of sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings.”
Scientific data do not include:
“laboratory notebooks, preliminary analyses, case report forms, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer-reviews, communications with colleagues, or physical objects and materials, such as laboratory specimens, artifacts, or field notes.”
Scientific data also do not include data subject to “legal, privacy, ethical or other similar restrictions or limitations.”
Explaining Public Access and Open Access
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) defines public access as the “free availability of federally funded scholarly materials to the public…and is regarded as a policy term.” Public access policies ensure that the public can read and use the results of federally funded research.
Open access, by contrast, is a broader set of principles and practices for sharing research outputs (including publications and data). Open access materials are made freely available online, usually without most copyright or licensing restrictions.
In short:
Public access is a policy requirement tied to federal funding.
Open access is a broader publishing model that supports openness in research.
Public access can be seen as one way of moving toward greater open access.
Important to note: Publishing in an open access journal does not always satisfy public access requirements. For example, NIH-funded research articles published in some open access journals must still be deposited in PubMed Central to remain compliant with NIH policy.
What does "open access" mean?
Most often, "open access" refers to journal articles, textbooks, or class content that anyone can access from anywhere. In other words, it isn't kept behind a paywall, anyone can download it for free.
Open access journals are often funded by fees charged to authors. This is because open access journals do not follow the traditional funding model, where subscribers (like universities) pay to access journal articles:
“The largest open access publishers, BioMed Central and PLoS, charge $1,350-2,250 per article in most cases”.1 However, UND is a supporter of BioMed Central, and so UND faculty receive a 15% discount (ask your librarian about this discount).
Open access journals vary in quality (just like traditional journals): some are reputable, some are insufficiently rigorous, and some are deceptive.2 (see checklist on previous tab).
Open access publication is beginning to become an accepted way to fulfill the requirements of promotion and tenure. The "UND OA Statement of Support" was proposed and passed by the University Senate Library Committee in May 2018, and passed by Senate Executive on 9/19/18.
Being open access doesn't mean a resource isn't copyrighted.
Example: A journal can take an article for which it retains the copyright and make it open access if they don't charge people for downloading it.
Being open access doesn't mean a resource has a creative commons license, rather than a traditional copyright license (though it is likely).
Being open access doesn't mean a resource is of poor quality (see checklist below)
1. Van Noorden, Richard. (March 27 2013). “Open Access: The true cost of science publishing.” Nature. http://www.nature.com/news/open-access-the-true-cost-of-science-publishing-1.12676
2. Berger, Monica. (March 22-25 2017). “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Predatory Publishing but were Afraid to Ask.” ACRL 2017: At the Helm: Leading Transformation. http://bit.ly/2gO47AZ
-sparcopen.org/open-access/
What are the different ways a publication can be Open Access?
What are the different types of Open Access?
How can I publish Open Access?
When working with sponsored research, it is strongly encouraged for researchers to write in the APC amount into any grants they receive. If your work is required to be open access as part of the federal research mandate, you should write in the APC amount into your grant. It’s helpful to research the journal ahead of time to make sure you know what the charge is going to be.
Read and publish agreements allow UND faculty to publish OA at no additional cost. They also allow the authors to keep their copyright. While it’s still going the for-profit publisher route, these agreements minimize or eliminate the financial burden to faculty that arises with Article Processing Charges (APCs).
The Chester Fritz Library is excited to announce a pilot Open Access Publishing Fund (the UND Article Processing Charge Fund) to support UND Researchers. The funding will go to support Article Processing Charges (APCs). We know that trying to combat the high APC prices can be a burden. If accepted, applicants will be awarded up to 2,000 dollars to pay for APCs. We can award up to 10 applications per year and will only cover research that is not sponsored.
The Diamond OA route is increasingly becoming more popular as more members of the publishing community are not interested in the high article processing charges. This could be an option for those that are considering an alternative.
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