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Federal Agencies Public Access Policies

This guide is intended for use by the researchers at Rutgers University. It covers an overview and requirements of the policy, addressing copyright issues, submission methods, citing PMCID, and how to manage compliance.

Accelerated Deadline for 2024 NIH Public Access Policy - July 1, 2025

On April 30, 2025, the NIH Director announced the revised effective date to implement the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy applicable to author accepted manuscripts (AAM) accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025. Until then, NIH's current (2008) Public Access Policy remains in effect. For details, please refer to the NIH Director's Announcement - Accelerating Access to Research Results: New Implementation Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

On December 17, 2024, NIH issued its updated Public Access Policy, known as 2024 NIH Public Access Policy < NOT-OD-25-047: 2024 NIH Public Access Policy>. Other related announcements:

  • April 30, 2025 - Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy. See Notice NOT-OD-25-101.
  • December 17, 2024 - Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy: Government Use License and Rights. See Notice NOT-OD-25-049.
  • December 17, 2024 - Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy: Publication Costs. See Notice NOT-OD-25-048.
  • August 23, 2024 - Notice of the Reopening of the Public Comment Period for NOT-OD-24-144. See Notice NOT-OD-24-166.
  • June 24, 2024 - Notice of Availability: National Institutes of Health Draft Public Access Policy. See Notice NOT-OD-24-144.
  • February 21, 2023 - Request for Information on the NIH Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research. See Notice NOT-OD-23-091.

More related information can be found at the NIH Office of Science Policy's Public Access website <https://osp.od.nih.gov/policies/public-access/>.

The New 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

On December 17, 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its final 2024 Public Access Policy with two accompanying supplemental guidance on Government Use License and Right (NOT-OD-25-049). And on Publication Costs (NOT-OD-25-048). The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy adopts an Effective Date of December 31, 2025. When effective, it will replace the 2008 NIH Public Access Policy.

The policy focuses on scholarly publications and applies to final, peer-reviewed articles (i.e. Author Accepted Manuscripts) accepted for publication in a journal on or after the Effective Date (December 31, 2025) that result from NIH funding in whole or in part.

Source: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-047.html

Introduction to the 2022 OSTP Memo (aka: The Nelson Memo)

On August 25, 2022,  Dr. Alondra Nelson from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum (now also known as the Nelson Memo) on “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research” to update the 2013 OSTP memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research.

This  2022 OSTP memo provides policy guidance to federal agencies with research and development expenditures on updating their public access policies. In this memo, OSTP recommends the federal agencies to update their public access policies as soon as possible, and no later than December 31, 2025, to make publications and their supporting data resulting from federally funded research publicly accessible without an embargo. For more information on the memo, please view the complete 2022 OSTP Memo or the Nelson Memo.