The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking comments in its efforts to increase public access to federally funded research.

Family Scientists who publish their research in publications such as NCFR's three scholarly journals are encouraged to submit their feedback.

The Consortium of Social Science Associations, of which NCFR is a member, reports that OSTP is most interested in in feedback on:

• The existing limitations of communicating research outputs and how to improve communications;
• The role of federal agencies in making federally funded research freely accessible and in engaging with other sectors to achieve these goals;
• The benefits towards U.S. science and competitiveness that are provided by immediate access to federally funded research and potential challenges in those areas; and
• Any additional information relevant to U.S. federal policy on public access to research.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science reports that changes to how publishers of scholarly journals provide open access could negatively impact organizations such as NCFR and present financial barriers to academics looking to publish their research. Read more here.

The original deadline of March 16 has been extended. OSTP will now accept comments through May 6, 2020. 

Submit comments here