petersuberDec 6

1/ I'm sympathetic to #NIH-funded authors who want to publish in certain #APC-based #OpenAccess journals and can't find the money to pay the APCs. But it's false to say that they must publish in those journals, in any other APC-based OA journals, or even in OA journals. Shame on _Inside Higher Ed_ for leaving this false impression..
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/research/2025/12/05/nih-policy-holding-researchers-hostage

PS: I repeat: Compliance with the NIH OA policy is free of charge. Moreover, compliance is all about depositing in a certain repository, not publishing in a certain journal or kind of journal. The NIH has a #GreenOA policy, not a #GoldOA policy. The same is true for all the other federal agencies with OA policies, not just the NIH. When a journal charges NIH-funded authors an APC to publish, the fee is to publish in that particular journal, not to comply with the NIH policy. Don't be fooled by the widespread misunderstanding that compliance with these policies requires paying any kind of fee. Don't be fooled by journals and publishers that cynically spread this myth themselves or leave it uncorrected. You can help by correcting this falsehood wherever you see it. You can also help by working with hiring, promotion, tenure, and funding committees to care more about the quality of research than the journals in which it is published.

🧵

#APCs #NelsonMemo #NIH #OpenAccess #OAintheUSA #PublicAccess #Repositories

The NIH Policy Holding Researchers “Hostage”

An effort to make NIH-funded research immediately accessible to the public has led to disruption and financial strain for scientists already navigating a precarious funding environment. It also spotlights the power of corporate publishers.

Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
petersuberJul 22

The #AuthorsAlliance (@AuthorsAlliance) just updated its excellent FAQ on the new #NIH #OpenAccess policy.

Here's the original FAQ from June 6, 2025.
https://www.authorsalliance.org/2025/06/06/the-nih-public-access-policy-qa-for-authors/

Here's the update from July 18, 2025, answering several additional questions.
https://www.authorsalliance.org/2025/07/18/an-update-nih-and-publisher-guidance-what-authors-need-to-know-about-nihs-public-access-policy/

#NelsonMemo #OSTP #Publishers

petersuberJul 15

While the #Trump admin has not revoked or weakened the #OSTP #NelsonMemo, and the #NIH even accelerated its effective date, the #Republican led House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science is trying to defund its implementation. #SPARC just released an open letter asking the committee to change course.
https://sparcopen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Against-Section-550-in-House-CJS-FY-26-.pdf

"I am writing to respectfully urge you to strike Section 550 from the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which would prohibit funding to implement the Office of Science and Technology Policy's August 25, 2022, memorandum ensuring free, immediate access to federally funded research…Rather than blocking #OpenAccess requirements, we should focus on addressing legitimate concerns about cost structures - including publication expenses - to ensure that access to publicly funded research is available while protecting taxpayers from unreasonable costs."

#DefendResearch #Funding #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

Show threadpetersuberJul 1, 2025

1/ The new #NIH #OpenAccess policy takes effect today.
https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/public-access

Here are a few notable points about the policy.

The NIH has had a mandatory OA policy since 2008. The new policy is a strengthened version that eliminates the permissible embargo. The policy now requires unembargoed or immediate OA, from the date of publication.
https://grants.nih.gov/faqs#/search/693/embargo

This strengthening was required by the #Biden-era #NelsonMemo from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (#OSTP).

Note that Trump has not revoked or weakened the Nelson Memo even though it came out of the Biden White House and uses #DEI language. Nor has he scuttled or weakened any agency policies drafted under its guidance.

That may be baffling. But part of the larger picture is that Trump's own OSTP in his first term drafted a memo similar to the Nelson Memo. It too would have strengthened the federal OA policies by eliminating the embargo.
https://slate.com/technology/2020/02/academic-publishing-market-trump-executive-order.html

There may be many reasons why he didn't sign the memo, including the fact that it wasn't finished until near the end of his term when he was caught in impeachment hearings.

🧵

#Funders #Medicine #OAintheUSA #ScholComm

Public Access | Grants & Funding

petersuberJun 25, 2025

Many thanks to @AuthorsAlliance for launching this form to collect author experiences under the new federal #OpenAccess policies, including the #NIH policy.
https://www.authorsalliance.org/fedpublicaccess/

"We are particularly interested in learning about:
* Challenges with #publishers whose policies may disallow their uploading of articles to agency-designated #repositories;
* Common questions or points of confusion expressed by grantees;
* Confusion or questions about agency guidance;
* Other technical, legal, or practical barriers to depositing articles."

Note to #librarians: When you encounter authors facing any kind of problem with a fed OA policy (understanding, compliance, publishing), please refer them to this form. The more we document the problems, the more we can facilitate solutions.

#Monitoring #NelsonMemo #OSTP

Federal Public Access Policy Implementation

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Authors Alliance
Show threadpetersuberJun 25, 2025

#SPARC has released its own new info on the new #NIH #OpenAccess policy.
https://sparcopen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Update-to-NIH-PA-Policy-Deadline.pdf

Excerpt:

<blockquote>
● The Policy requires immediate public access to articles -- #embargoes are no longer allowed.
● NIH reiterates authors do not have to pay a fee to comply with the Policy.
● The Policy applies to manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025. This means the Policy will apply to existing grants if an article is accepted on or after that date.
● The Policy requires that final peer-reviewed manuscripts be submitted to #PubMedCentral (#PMC) upon acceptance to be made publicly available immediately upon publication.
● The Policy requires that grantees explicitly grant the NIH the right to make the manuscript available in PMC without an embargo.
● The Policy does not explicitly grant full reuse rights of the manuscript to the public.
</blockquote>

#Copyright #Embargoes #GreenOA #Medicine #NelsonMemo #OSTP

petersuberJun 25, 2025

The #NIH just released new info on its zero-embargo #OpenAccess policy, which takes effect next week (July 1).
https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/public-access

This includes:

* a new overview of the policy itself
https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/public-access/nih-public-access-policy-overview

* a new overview of the methods for submitting papers to comply with the policy
https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/policy-topics/public-access/submitting-pubmed-central

* and a new FAQ.
https://grants.nih.gov/faqs#/public-access-policy

#Embargoes #GreenOA #Medicine #NelsonMemo #PubMedCentral #OSTP

petersuberMay 13, 2025

Alondra Nelson — of the #OSTP #NelsonMemo on #OpenAccess — just resigned her positions at the National Science Foundation (#NSF) and Library of Congress (#LOC). Read her resignation letter.
https://time.com/7285045/resigning-national-science-foundation-library-congress/

"Even as the White House threatens the foundational tenets of constitutional democracy and continues to slash funding for essential social services, it is tempting to hope that the public institutions charged with promoting and protecting knowledge will, nevertheless, soldier on with their mission. I did…[But] perseverance has its limits. The erosion of these institutions’ integrity —and the growing realization that it is impossible to fulfill their missions in good faith— has made the cost of continuing untenable."

#DefendResearch #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics
@alondra

Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress

I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.

TIME
Show threadpetersuberApr 30, 2025

Update. "Accelerating Access to Research Results: New Implementation Date for the 2024 #NIH Public Access Policy"
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/accelerating-access-research-results-new-implementation-date-2024-nih-public-access-policy

"I am excited to announce that one of my first actions as NIH Director is pushing the accelerator on policies to make NIH research findings freely and quickly available to the public. The 2024 Public Access Policy, originally slated to go into effect on December 31, 2025, will now be effective as of July 1, 2025."

PS: This announcement is from the Trump-appointed NIH director, #JayBhattacharya. It's another sign that Trump has not revoked or weakened the #OSTP #NelsonMemo, despite other attacks on research, including #takedowns of #OpenAccess texts and data. At the NIH, the largest funding agency, implementation of the Nelson memo is even speeding up.

EDIT. Another NIH reaffirmation of its NelsonMemo OA policy. From Lyric Jorgenson, NIH Ass Director for Science Policy, April 30, 2025: "We revised our Public Access Policy to eliminate the embargo period so that researchers, students, and members of the public have rapid access to these findings. NIH leadership believes strongly that transparency in all we do is critical and that we should not waste a moment in fulfilling our promise to the public."
https://osp.od.nih.gov/transforming-transparency-through-policy/

#DefendResearch #Medicine #USPol #USPolitics

Accelerating Access to Research Results: New Implementation Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

Speeding access to research results will support NIH's goal of maximum transparency.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Show threadpetersuberApr 18, 2025

Update. Bad news from the #NEH for #KnowledgeCommons (and the rest of us).
https://about.hcommons.org/2025/04/17/on-the-neh-and-our-path-forward/

"On April 2, 2025, we received notification that our NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant, awarded in 2020, was terminated effective immediately…On April 10, 2025, we received further…notification that our contract to provide the NEH’s Designated Public-Access #Repository was also being terminated…This loss is devastating…both for the financial impact it represents…but also for the unceremonious end to a goal we’d set for ourselves years ago…Not to mention the bigger picture here: that designated public-access repository is no longer needed, because it is assumed that the NEH will no longer be funding research, and thus there will be no results of research to make publicly accessible."

PS: All the agencies covered by the #OSTP #NelsonMemo must designate #OpenAccess repositories for their OA content. NEH was the only agency to designate a repo not hosted by the govt. All the other agency repos will be hosted by the govt, where they will be subject to political censorship or takedowns.

#Censorship #DefendResearch #GreenOA #Takedowns #Trump #USPol #USPolitics