Public access means that an output of research (publication, data, etc.) is made freely available and accessible to everyone, usually in a public access repository such as PubMed Central.
No. The requirement to make a publication or dataset publicly available is generally associated with a mandate by a funding agency to deposit these research outputs in a public repository. This allows for anyone to view the publication or dataset. However, traditional copyright guidelines can apply to these outputs, which can prohibit reuse of the information without the permission of the copyright holder.
Open Access is a philosophy that research should be freely available on the public internet for all to use. Researchers can obtain a license (such as a Creative Commons license) to protect their work while allowing for the open distribution and reuse of their work.
To learn more about this distinction, please visit this University of Pittsburgh article. If you want to learn more about Open Access, please visit our Open Access LibGuide.
Federal agencies (such as the NSF, NIH, & USDA) have provided updates or are in the process of updating their Public Access Policies to meet the specifications of the 2022 Nelson Memo. They have until December 31, 2024 to update and publish their policies and up to a year later (December 31, 2025) to implement them.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memo that required all federally-funded peer-reviewed publications and corresponding data be made publicly available, allowing for a 12-month embargo after publication. This policy applied to all federal agencies with research and development budgets over $100 million.
OSTP issued a memo requiring all federally-funded peer-reviewed publications and data to be made publicly available without an embargo. This policy applies to all federal agencies with research and development budgets. This memo also provided additional guidance for ensuring the integrity and trust in federally-funded research.