Federal public access policies
Who's affected?
Do you receive or are you applying for funding from a U.S. federal government agency? Federal agencies are in the process of implementing new policies that affect how and when federally funded research outputs are made available to the public. This page provides information, resources, and guidance for Stanford researchers impacted by these changes.
For further information and to request a consultation, Stanford’s Office of Scholarly Communications is available to Stanford community members who have questions or concerns about navigating public access requirements.
Latest developments
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) data sharing requirements are effective for new awards as of December 8, 2025 and NSF publication sharing requirements are effective for new awards as of January 22, 2026. NSF also issued new guidance regarding Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMSPs) effective April 27, 2026.
- The Department of Energy (DoE) data sharing requirements are effective for new awards as of October 1, 2025.
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is considering limiting allowable publications costs beginning in 2026.
Federal agency updates presentation
Learn about recent federal public access policy updates and what they mean for Stanford researchers. John Borghi, PhD (Data Management Program Manager, Stanford University School of Medicine), and Rochelle Lundy, JD (Director, Office of Scholarly Communications, Stanford University Libraries) highlight key agency changes and share practical guidance for navigating new requirements in this slide deck.
Policy details
U.S. federal grant-making agencies have or will soon implement new requirements for the sharing of funded research outputs, following directives issued by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in August 2022.
These requirements significantly expand previous federal research sharing requirements, asking that every federal agency implement policies that make research publications and supporting data freely and immediately available to the public.
Frequently asked questions
Learn how to navigate public access at Stanford and what researchers can do in light of these policy changes.
No, compliance with federal public access requirements does not require paying fees for open access publication (often referred to as “article processing charges” or “APCs”). Deposit of a work in the agency’s designated repository is what brings a work into compliance.
However, some journals prohibit immediate sharing of manuscripts in agency repositories unless the author pays to publish open access. If an author chooses to publish in a journal that requires an open access publication fee, reasonable costs associated with publication may be paid using grant funds.
Stanford does not offer central funding to support payment of open access fees. However, a limited number of scholarly publishers waive or discount open access publishing fees for Stanford affiliates on account of agreements with Stanford’s libraries. Consult the Stanford University Libraries guide to open access support for a complete list of current open access waivers and discounts. Lane Medical Library also provides a list of open access waivers and discounts for School of Medicine authors as well as access to ChronosHub, a journal selection tool that indicates whether Stanford-specific fee waivers or discounts apply to a specific journal.
Review journal policies and/or your author agreement to determine if you can share accepted or published versions of your work without embargo and without an additional fee. Open Policy Finder offers detailed information about journal sharing policies and ChronosHub, a journal selection tool provided by Lane Medical Library, provides summaries of journal policies and embargo periods.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that they comply with any publication or data sharing requirements imposed by the agency funding their research.
Although some publishers have historically deposited copies of funded authors’ manuscripts to government agency repositories in order to assist in meeting public access requirements. However, in response to new requirements that mandate immediate free access to funded publications, many publishers have discontinued this practice.
Regardless of who completes the repository submission process, it is ultimately the author’s responsibility to ensure that the deposit was properly completed and that they are in compliance with the terms of their grants.
Many journals now prohibit the immediate sharing required by federal agencies unless authors pay fees. Although these policies do not align with federal agency rights and requirements, authors who agree to them may inadvertently violate the terms of their publishing agreements by sharing manuscripts in agency repositories.
Authors confronting this situation can:
- Inform the journal of agency requirements and request compliant sharing options;
- Elect to pay the journal fee in order to comply with public access requirements; or
- Withdraw their manuscript and seek an alternative publication venue.
Authors navigating this scenario are encouraged to seek guidance from Stanford resources.
Stanford University Libraries provides detailed guidance on writing data management and sharing plans and Lane Medical Library offers information specific to the NIH data management and sharing requirements. Stanford also operates a university-wide DMP Service, which consults with researchers on drafting, revising and updating data management and sharing plans.
Consult Stanford University Libraries data sharing guide for advice on selecting an appropriate repository to meet federal agency requirements. Lane Medical Library also provides guidance on appropriate sharing options for School of Medicine researchers.
The Stanford Digital Repository (SDR), Stanford's institutional repository, is an excellent choice for Stanford researchers who are not required to use another repository and for whom there is no appropriate domain-specific repository. The SDR is free for Stanford researchers, provides flexible licensing options, assigns permanent URLs to all deposits, and assigns DOIs to deposits upon request.
Failure to comply with agency public access requirements may impact renewals and future funding applications for all researchers associated with the non-compliant grant.
Agencies do monitor public access compliance and may contact principal investigators to request that they bring outputs that have not been shared into compliance. If you are contacted by an agency regarding public access compliance, please feel free to contact the Office of Scholarly Communications at [email protected] or, for NIH communications, Lane Medical Library at [email protected].
Questions about these policies?
Contact the Office of Scholarly Communications at [email protected].
We work closely with other research support units at Stanford and will refer you appropriately if your question would benefit from their expertise. Researchers in the School of Medicine with specific questions about NIH public access requirements may wish to reach out directly to Lane Medical Library at [email protected] or to John Borghi, School of Medicine Research Office, at [email protected].