cOAlition S – an international consortium of research funding and performing organisations working to deliver full and immediate Open Access – welcomes the announcement from the White House Office of Science Technology and Policy mandating that all federally funded research results should be made immediately available and in ways which allow others to build upon and reuse them.
Central to this guidance is the requirement that research articles – and the data underpinning their findings – are made publicly accessible “by default in agency-designated repositories without any embargo or delay after publication“.
“This new US policy is a game changer for scholarly publishing“, commented Johan Rooryck, Executive Director of cOAlition S. “In addition to its emphasis on immediate open access, we welcome the focus on reducing inequities in publishing, especially among individuals from underserved backgrounds and those who are early in their careers. Initiatives such as Rights Retention – supported by both funder and institutional policies – can provide a means for effectively delivering open access“.
The OSTP guidance is fully aligned with the open access policies of many forward looking universities and research agencies – including those who have implemented Plan S – and with the recent UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.
“Such a strong statement, from a country that is leading in many research areas, will greatly advance efforts for global open access“, noted Johan Rooryck. cOAlition S looks forward to working with OSTP and other research organisations worldwide to further align our policies towards delivering full and immediate open access to research results.
