Skip to Main Content
Virginia Tech® home

Public Access Toolkit

The public access toolkit provides guidance to researchers who receive funding from U.S. federal agencies and must comply with public access mandates.

Why Public Access? 

Public access stems from a mandate for authors outlined by specific funding agencies to enforce free public access to the research they sponsor. In the U.S., there has been a public access mandate in place since 2013, following the Holdren Memorandum from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP).

In August 2022, the White House OSTP issued a new memorandum (known as the 2022 Nelson Memo) on Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research calling on federal agencies to make “articles resulting from all U.S. federally funded research freely available and publicly accessible by default in agency-designated repositories without any embargo or delay after publication.”

Public Access vs. Open Access

Both have the end result of materials being available at no charge to readers but are the result of different driving factors. 

Public Access Open Access
  • Result of a requirement or mandate by a federal or private funding agency.
  • Some exceptions apply for ensuring security of sensitive information.

Typically a choice by the author(s), by:

  • Choosing an OA venue for publication, or;
  • By making it OA in a repository (or sometimes both);
  • Usually an open license is also applied (e.g., Creative Commons)

Differences between the 2013 Memo and 2022 Memo

The new federal mandate from the White House OSTP broadens access and requirements for federally funded research.

  2013 Holdren Memo 2022 Nelson Memo
Applies to Anyone receiving funding from federal agencies with over $100 million in annual expenditures (NIH and NSF) Anyone receiving funding from any U.S. federal agency
Research must be made publicly accessible After a 12-month embargo Immediately
What type of research outputs must be made public access?  Peer-reviewed scholarly publications

Peer-reviewed scholarly publications
and data sets resulting from federally funded research

Exceptions apply for protecting security, confidentiality, and intellectual property*
When did/does this memo go into effect? Currently in effect

Currently in effect

Implementation / effective date no later than one year after the publication of the agency plan (policies were due December 31, 2024).

*From the Nelson Memo (footnote 11, page 5), "Public access to federally funded research results and data should:

  • Protect confidentiality, privacy, business confidential information, and security;
  • Avoid negative impact on intellectual property rights, innovation, program and operational improvements, and U.S. competitiveness, and;
  • Preserve the balance between the relative value of long-term preservation and access and the associated cost and administrative burden."

Resources