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Public Access Toolkit: Publication & Data Sharing Requirements

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

Timeline for Implementation

Key dates:

  • August 25, 2022, Nelson Memo published.
  • December 31, 2024, Deadline for agencies to publish final public access policies.
  • July 1, 2025, New policies become effective no later than this date.

The time frame for implementation of the memorandum has two components:

  • First, agencies must develop new public plans or update existing ones for submission to OMB and OSTP. Agencies that were subject to the 2013 Holdren Memo and already have public access plans have a shorter timeline and must submit their plans within the next six months (180 days). The remaining agencies have a full year (360 days) to submit their plans for review.
  • Second, once OMB and OSTP review their plans, agencies must have published their final policy implementation plans by December 31st, 2024, with an effective date no later than one year after the publication of the agency plan. We note that this could mean the plans from agencies subject to the Holdren Memo might have gone into effect sooner than July 31st, 2024.

All new and updated agency public access plans for publications and data will go into effect no later than July 1, 2025. 

When might my research begin to be affected?

The memo requires that all agency policies will be in effect by July 1, 2025. While some may put their policies into effect sooner, most agencies will likely take the full amount of time to develop and prepare their policies and procedures. If you're planning research projects that are set to receive funding in 2025 or beyond, you should be prepared for new policies or procedures that are developed in response to the memo.

Attribution of the text of this page is given to the University of Illinois-Chicago Libraries. See https://researchguides.uic.edu/ostp/ostp 

Nelson, Dr. Alondra. “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Public Access Memo, August 25, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf