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Implementation of Public Access Programs in Federal Agencies

On February 22, 2013, the Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a memo to Federal agencies funding over $100 million in research and development, to develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the Federal Government. To help communicate the details of these plans and their implementation to the public, and researchers who receive federal funding, CENDI has started this web page, and will continue to collect and communicate information as it is released by the Federal agencies. The following sections are now available:



Public Access (PA) Plans of U.S. Federal Agencies

Additional Public Access Plans will be posted as agencies release them.

Agencies with Public Access Plans which have been approved for public release are listed below. Some agencies not subject to the OSTP memo are voluntarily developing Public Access Plans and are included below.

Available PA Plans:

Department of Agriculture (Nov. 2014) PA Plan

Department of Commerce

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (Apr. 2015) PA Plan
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Feb. 2015)  PA Plan

Department of Defense (Feb. 2015) PA Plan

Department of Education (Oct. 2016) PA Plan

Department of Energy (Jul. 2014) PA Plan

Department of Health and Human Services

  • Administration for Community Living Publications only (Feb. 2016) PA Plan
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Feb. 2015) PA Plan
  • Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Feb. 2015) PA Plan
  • Centers for Disease Control (Jan. 2015) PA Plan
  • Food and Drug Administration (Feb. 2015) PA Plan
  • National Institutes of Health (Feb. 2015) PA Plan

Department of Homeland Security (Dec. 2016) PA Plan

Department of Transportation (Dec. 2015) PA Plan

Department of Veterans Affairs (Jul. 2015) PA Plan

Environmental Protection Agency (Nov. 2016) PA Plan

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Dec. 2014) PA Plan

National Science Foundation (Mar. 2015) PA Plan

Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) (Sep. 2016) PA Plan

Smithsonian Institution (Aug. 2015) PA Plan

US Agency for International Development (USAID) (Nov. 2016) PA Plan

US Geological Survey (USGS) (Jan. 2016) PA Plan



Award Dates Covered Under Each Agency's Public Access Policy for Publications and for Data Management Plans


The following table indicates the effective dates and scope for agency public access policies and/or plans for scholarly publications and digital data. These dates are obtained directly from the agencies and are accurate as of March 17, 2017 and indicate when investigators need to ensure the results of their federally funded research meet applicable requirements, i.e. funded investigators need to begin submitting data management plans as part of new funding applications and ensuring that publications are made publically accessible through agency-approved repositories. These requirements are generally specified in agency solicitations for applications and/or resulting award documentation.