Back in August 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memo, Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research. The memo called on federal agencies to develop policies to ensure that articles and data resulting from federally funded research are to be made freely available upon publication. Recognizing the complexity of doing so, OSTP has continued to gather information and solicit feedback from the scientific community.
Over the past several weeks, FABBS has participated in several webinars hosted by OSTP, inviting input from early-career researchers about the opportunities and challenges of advancing open science practices. The series is part of the White House’s Year of Open Science.
Federal agencies have also worked to engage the scientific community and make progress on their new open science policies and procedures. The National Science Foundation (NSF) held public listening sessions and met with FABBS and others from the scientific community. NSF released the NSF Public Access Plan 2.0: Ensuring Open, Immediate, and Equitable Access to National Science Foundation Funded Research.
The National Institutes of Health, Office of Science Policy posted a blog stating that NIH values community feedback and explaining how NIH incorporates comments to set policy. The post includes a link to the compiled 143 responses to the NIH Public Access Policy RFI, including one from FABBS.
FABBS Comments on the NIH Minority Health and Health Disparities Strategic Plan for 2026-2030