Department of Energy PAGES: Public Access Gateway for Energy & Science

What does "Beta" mean?

When launched in August 2014, DOE PAGES^Beta contained an initial collection of accepted manuscripts and journal articles as a demonstration of its functionality and eventual expanded content. Two years later, the portal contained 26,000 articles and accepted manuscripts, and it is anticipated that DOE PAGES^Beta will eventually achieve annual growth of 20,000-30,000 publicly-accessible articles and manuscripts. Following stakeholder feedback and broader implementation of processes for ongoing content growth and submission, the beta version of DOE PAGES will transition to a full release.

Guidance for DOE-Funded Authors

I'm a researcher at a DOE national laboratory and have just had a manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal; what do I need to do in order to comply with DOE's public access requirements?

Each DOE laboratory has a site program to manage scientific and technical information (STI) produced under the contract and to make it available to DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI). In addition to the information provided here, please consult with your site's STI Manager for more information. A listing of STI Managers can be found here.

Using your Lab's processes for STI submission, you should provide metadata/citation information for the journal article as well as either an upload of the accepted manuscript in PDF format or a link to your Lab/sites institutional repository that is hosting the manuscript. This is comparable to the current submission process for technical reports.

An accepted manuscript is the version of the article that has been accepted for publication by a publisher and includes changes made by the author during the peer-review process. This is called the final peer-reviewed accepted manuscript. It includes the same content as the published article in the journal but does not include the publisher's form or format. The key criteria for submission of accepted manuscripts to OSTI are (1) that DOE partially or completely funded the research reflected in the article or accepted manuscript and (2) that the publication has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Regarding copyright transfer, it is a standard requirement by publishers that an author submitting an article for publication complete a Copyright Transfer Agreement prior to an article's acceptance. The wording on the forms may vary from publisher to publisher, but basic wording includes transfer of copyright to the publisher. However, a key point to note that regardless of the specific wording, the Government retains rights to the article. In fact, within the prime contract for DOE Laboratories is wording which states: "...(2) The contractor shall mark each scientific or technical article first produced or composed under this Contract and submitted for journal publication or similar means of dissemination with a notice, similar in all material respects to the following, on the front reflecting the Government's non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license in the copyright.

Notice: This manuscript has been authored by [insert the name of the Contractor] under Contract No. [insert the contract number] with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. (End of Notice) [Ref. DEAR970.5227-2 Rights in data-technology transfer]

DOE-funded authors are free to publish in journals of their choice, including open access journals as authorized by their respective sites. However, regarding "author pays" or article processing charges, it is important for DOE-funded authors to know that it is not necessary to pay "author pays" fees or article processing charges solely to enable public access to their publications. DOE is implementing public access through its license to the accepted manuscript or through the voluntary public access efforts of publishers, not through "author pays" models. You may choose to publish with an Open Access journal and pay a fee to do so if your Lab/site allows it; however, this is not necessary to comply with DOE's public access policy, and it must be in compliance with allowable costs under the terms of your Lab's/site's contract with DOE.

An 'Acknowledgements' section is a standard component of most peer-reviewed articles and DOE-funded authors should clearly acknowledge DOE's support of their research. For authors funded by DOE's Office of Science (SC), SC has established a website specifying the standard format for acknowledging SC support in peer-reviewed articles and technical papers for work conducted via a Financial Assistance Award (i.e., grants and cooperative agreements) or at a National Laboratory. There is also a format provided for acknowledging use of SC User Facilities. This information is available on the SC homepage under the heading "Funding Opportunities": Other Program Offices and non-SC laboratories/sites may also have existing guidance on acknowledgments of Federal support; in the absence of existing guidance, the SC format noted above is a useful reference for all labs and organizations working to standardize acknowledgement statements.

Additional information on DOE's Public Access Plan is available at www.osti.gov/stip.

I'm a researcher with a grant from DOE and have just had a manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal; what do I need to do in order to comply with DOE's public access requirements?

Terms and Conditions for Financial Assistance Awardees (i.e., grantees) include information on providing research results to DOE. For awards issued or renewed after October 1, 2014, the Terms and Conditions for awardees are being updated to include the submission of final peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts for DOE research funded through grants and other financial assistance awards.

An accepted manuscript is the version of the article that has been accepted for publication by a publisher and includes changes made by the author during the peer-review process. This is called the final peer-reviewed accepted manuscript. It includes the same content as the published article in the journal but does not include the publisher's form or format. The key criteria for submission of accepted manuscripts to OSTI are (1) that DOE partially or completely funded the research reflected in the article or accepted manuscript and (2) that the publication has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Submission of accepted manuscripts is done through the corporate E-Link System. Please refer to information included in your award package for additional information and points of contact, and questions related to E-Link may also be sent to 241user@osti.gov. Through E-Link, you will submit metadata/citation information for the journal article as well as either an upload of the accepted manuscript in PDF format or a link to your institutional repository that is hosting the manuscript.

Regarding copyright transfer, for Financial Assistance Awardees, the Government retains nonexclusive and irrevocable rights to use the works published under an award for federal purposes (2 CFR § 200.315(b) (d)). As per the DOE Terms and Conditions for Grants and Cooperative Agreements, DOE requires an acknowledgement of awarding agency support to be marked on the publication of any material, whether copyrighted or not. OSTI continues to work closely with procurement points of contact regarding additional guidance related to DOE's Public Access Plan.

DOE-funded authors are free to publish in journals of their choice, including open access journals if your award's terms and conditions allow it. However, regarding "author pays" or article processing charges, it is important for DOE-funded authors to know that it is not necessary to pay "author pays" fees or article processing charges solely to enable public access to their publications. DOE is implementing public access through its license to the accepted manuscript or through the voluntary public access efforts of publishers, not through "author pays" models. You may choose to publish with an Open Access journal and pay a fee to do so if your award's terms and conditions allow it; however, this is not necessary to comply with DOE's public access policy, and it must be in compliance with allowable costs under the terms of your award from DOE.

An 'Acknowledgements' section is a standard component of most peer-reviewed articles and DOE-funded authors should clearly acknowledge DOE's support of their research. For authors funded by DOE's Office of Science (SC), SC has established a website specifying the standard format for acknowledging SC support in peer-reviewed articles and technical papers for work conducted via a Financial Assistance Award (i.e., grants and cooperative agreements) or at a National Laboratory. There is also a format provided for acknowledging use of SC User Facilities. This information is available on the SC homepage under the heading "Funding Opportunities": Other Program Offices may also have existing guidance on acknowledgments of Federal support; in the absence of existing guidance, the SC format noted above is a useful reference.

Find out more

Do you have questions about DOE PAGES^Beta content, procedures, or policies? More information is available at OSTI's Public Access Policy page and in our Frequently Asked Questions.