January 2024
On January 19, AERA submitted comments in response to the Request for Information (RFI) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on the agency’s Public Access Plan 2.0.
NSF released the plan in June 2023 as a step in implementing the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” In implementing the OSTP memo, the plan provides guidance for NSF grantees in the future to make available upon release their publications and related data supported by NSF-funded research. The current requirement is that NSF grantees with grants funded after January 1, 2025, must make these products available within one year after publication.
In its RFI, NSF sought (a) input on the benefits and challenges that organizations and individual researchers may see in making NSF-funded peer-reviewed publications and the underlying data publicly available, (b) input on how NSF can engage with communities regarding public access issues, and (c) additional comments about Public Access Plan 2.0.
In the comments, AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine noted the importance of public access to NSF-funded peer-reviewed publications and their underlying data. Levine highlighted several next steps that NSF can take to further implementation of Public Access Plan 2.0:
AERA has long been involved in issues related to public access to research and data from federally funded research:
AERA will continue to engage with NSF and the broader scientific community as the agency continues to develop its guidance.