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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Responses to NSF's (and Other Agencies') OSTP Response (Got That?)

Last month, the National Science Foundation released a report titled "Today's Data, Tomorrow's Discoveries: Increasing Access to the Results of Research Funded by the National Science Foundation." (We summarized yhehighlights in our blog post on March 18, 2015.) This plan is the first piece of the NSF goal to provide increased public access to NSF research outputs; more from NSF is expected this month.

There was a flurry of twitter-tivity following the report's release; you can follow the continued discussion via the hashtag #OSTPresp. You'll also be able to follow a discussion about other agencies' OSTP responses that were released in the few weeks prior to the NSF report. After several agencies updated or released new policies in close succession, Amanda Whitmire at Oregon State University updated her libguide describing Federal Public Access Plans, and also created a crowd-sourced document to keep track of agencies and their plans, available here: http://bit.ly/FedOASummary. Primarily maintained by academic library-based data specialists, the document is open to additions and edits, which will help everyone stay current as new plans come out (and old ones are edited). The document includes whether an agency's policy covers data as well as traditional research outputs, embargoes, data management plan (DMP) details, preferred repositories (if stated), and more.

The UW Libraries has created a simplified version of this document that is geared toward whether agencies have DMP requirements and what their preferred repository is, with an intended audience that is not in the librarian world. Here you'll find a list of agency requirements, where data and articles are made available, and whether or not there's a DMP requirement. It's a little easier for the layperson to digest than the full list, and can be helpful in presenting this information to faculty and researchers.

Continue to watch twitter and this blog for further information about OSTP responses and what they mean for researchers. And feel free to add anything we've missed in the comments.



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