Taylor Matters - Summer 2008

Why you should care about Open Access: Requirements of funding agencies

Is it true that some funding agencies require publications funded by them to be made Open Access?

Some funding agencies now require any research funded by them to be made available in an open repository or in an open access journal.

For example, the National Institutes of Health in the United States has a requirement to make NIH funded research publicly available.

Similarly, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) created their Policy on Access to Research Outputs in September 2007. The CIHR policy covers peer-reviewed publications. It does not, however, apply to all publication types. The policy also stipulates retention periods for research data.

Are there other agencies with policies on making publications freely available?

SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organization in the United Kingdom that has developed a number of resources in support of scholarly communication. The SHERPA Juliet site has compiled a summary of policies given by various funding agencies as part of their grant awards.