About the Directive
On February 22, 2013, the White House issued an Executive Directive on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research that requires U.S. Government agencies with annual extramural research and development expenditures over $100 million make the results of taxpayer-funded research—both articles and data—be made freely available to the general public with the goal of accelerating scientific discovery and fueling innovation.
Federal Agencies covered by the directive had until August 22, 2013 to develop a plan for implementation. Despite this deadline, many agencies are still in the processing of releasing draft plans and will begin implementation in the coming months.
This directive means enhanced access to federally funded research articles for researchers and students at your institution, as well as expanded utility of those articles. The availability of federally funded research in open online archives also will expand the worldwide visibility of the research conducted at your institution, increase the impact of your investment in this research, and aid in examining related work at other institutions that compete for government grants and contracts. It will also enable researchers on your campus to begin to use these digital articles in new and innovative ways, including applying new computational analysis, text mining and data mining tools and techniques that have the potential to revolutionize scientific research.
Agency Plans for Implementation
The agencies covered under this directive are listed below. As agencies’ plans are released, they will be posted here along with an analysis conducted by SPARC.
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Defense: SPARC’s response to DoD’s public access plan
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy: SPARC’s response to DOE’s public access plan
- Department of Health and Human Services: SPARC’s response to HHS’s public access plans
- Administration for Community Living
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): SPARC’s response to AHRQ’s public access plan
- Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Transportation: SPARC’s response to the DOT’s public access plan
- Department of Veterans Affairs: SPARC’s response to the VA’s public access plan
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): SPARC’s response to NASA’s public access plan
- National Science Foundation (NSF): SPARC’s response to NSF’s public access plan
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)
- Smithsonian Institution
- US Agency for International Development (USAID)
- US Geological Survey
SPARC Resources on the directive
- SPARC’s press release on Executive Directive
- Letter to House & Senate Appropriation Committees from Dr. Holdren
- White House blog post on the Directive by Mike Stebbins
- Text of the Executive Directive
- Coalition Letter to Federal Agencies and Offices Requesting Draft OSTP Public Access Plans
SPARC Campus Resources on the Directive
- Columbia University: Public Access Mandates for Federally Funded Research: Implementation Plans and Private Foundations Requiring Public Access
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Research Funder Open Access Requirements
- Oregon State University: Overview – Public Access to Federally Funded Research
- Crowdsourced spreadsheet detailing features of agency public access and data sharing policies
Other Resources
- US Interagency Working Group on Open Science
- Strengthening Global Sharing of Scientific Data and Research Findings by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Federally Funded Research Results Are Becoming More Open and Accessible by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
