Public Access to Medical Research

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has updated U.S. policy guidance to ensure that research funded by taxpayers is immediately accessible to the public at no cost, ending the optional 12-month embargo on research publications. This step, initiated by Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of OSTP, aligns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to transparent and equitable access to research findings. Federal agencies must finalize their open access policies by the end of 2024, and the mandate will be enforceable starting on December 31, 2025. This policy change is significant for the Donaghue Foundation as it resonates with the foundation’s mission to advance scientific knowledge for the betterment of people’s health by enabling wider dissemination of research outcomes, promoting equitable access, and supporting research that can contribute to realized health benefits.

The Foundation is being proactive to ensure that everyone can benefit from the knowledge generated by our grantees. The Health Research Alliance (HRA) has been instrumental in providing us with a strategic framework to begin thinking about explicit ways we can encourage, require, and support the updated OSTP guidance. The Foundation plans to have the open access policy in place for the 2024 grant cycle. For the initial phase, we have brainstormed the following strategies to employ as a foundation for creating our open access policy:

*ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier)