Funding Agency Guidelines for Public Access

Below is a list of data requirements from some of the main US federal agencies. You can create ready-to-use data management plans for specific funding agencies using the DMPTool. The Libraries can help you write and implement your data management plan to meet these requirements. Contact us for help at any point.

  • Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)

    Key points:

    • AHRQ guidance: AHRQ's public access policy | AHRQ's data plan
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Papers to be deposited in PubMed Central and made publicly accessible after an embargo period of no more than 12 months after publication.
    • Data Sharing: Datasets must be deposited in a public repository. Emphasis is on maximizing ways to share data resulting from AHRQ funding using public data repositories or hosting data via grantee's institutional systems (where applicable).
    • Data Management Plan: A data management plan is required. The DMP must describe the long-term preservation plan for research data generated in whole or in part from AHRQ funding.  See the DMP checklist for all information to include.
  • Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    Key points:

    • Agency guidance: CDC’s award policy plan | CDC's data plan
    • Public Access to Manuscripts:
      • Researchers must submit into the National Institutes of Health Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system an electronic version of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript of any such work developed under this award upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.
      • Also at the time of submission, researchers must specify the date the final manuscript will be publicly accessible through PubMed Central.
      • Researchers must also post the manuscript through PubMed Central within twelve (12) months of the publisher's official date of final publication; however, the author is strongly encouraged to make the subject manuscript available as soon as possible.
    • Data Sharing:
      • For data underlying scientific publication, researchers should make the data available coincident with publication of the paper, unless the data set is already available via a release or sharing mechanism. At a minimum, release of the data set should consist of a machine-readable version of the data tables shown in the paper.
      • Researchers whose terms of award do not include submitting data to CDC are expected to plan and prepare for access to, and archiving/long-term preservation of, collected and/or generated data within the funding period. The final version of a collected and/or generated data set intended for release or sharing should be made available within thirty (30) months after the end of the data collection or generation, except surveillance data that should be made accessible within a year of the end of a collection cycle.
      • For public use de-identified (removal of sensitive identifiable or potentially identifiable information) datasets, an accompanying data dictionary, codes, and other documentation relevant to use of the data set should be deposited in a sustainable repository to provide access to the data. Data that cannot be de-identified can be provided on request under a data use agreement.
      • All data sets must come with a minimum set of metadata elements.
      • The costs of sharing and managing data can be included in the funds requested in applications.
    • Data Management Plan: Researchers must provide a data management plan. Compliance with data management plans will be monitored.
  • Department of Defense

    Key points:

    • DoD Guidance: DoD issued a public access plan in Feb 2015, but no policy has been set.
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Authors will be required to upload their final accepted peer-reviewed journal manuscripts (or the final published article, if the author has sufficient rights) to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) at the time of manuscript acceptance, no later than 12 months following publication. Articles will be shared via the PubDefense database.
    • Data Sharing: Publicly shareable data underlying a DoD-funded journal publication must be made freely available when the article is first published. Data may be preserved and shared via disciplinary, institutional, or generic repositories.The costs of sharing and managing data can be included in the funds requested in applications.
    • Data Management Plan: Researchers will be required to provide a DMP. Digitally formatted scientific data sets should be stored and publicly accessible to search, retrieve, and analyze; publicly releasable primary data, samples, and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work should be publicly accessible at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time.
    • Data Description to Support Discovery and Re-Use: Metadata should include, at a minimum, the Project Open Data common core metadata schema. Metadata for each data set, including subject, characteristics, and location, will be shared via DTIC’s DoD data set catalog.
  • Department of Energy (DOE)

    Key points:

    • DOE Guidance: published a Public Access Plan in July 2014, followed up by a Policy for Digital Research Data Management along with a set of FAQs for DOE PAGES and a set of FAQs for data management plans.
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: All researchers receiving DOE funding are required to submit metadata and a persistent hyperlink to the full-text accepted manuscript (in an institutional repository) or the full text of the accepted manuscript itself to DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information  (OSTI). For a list of metadata requirements, please see FAQ "What information is found in the Article Details in DOE PAGES?" Public access will be provided via the DOE Public Access Gateway for Science and Energy (DOE Pages) database.
    • Data Sharing: OSTI.GOV provides discovery to many R&D resource types such as journal articles/accepted manuscripts, technical reports, data, software, patents, conference papers, and more.
    • Data Management Plan: All proposals submitted to the DOE Office of Science for research funding must include a Data Management Plan (DMP). A list of elements to include in a DMP requirements for specific program offices, and additional guidance are provided in the DOE’s Policy for Digital Research Data Management.
    • Data Description to Support Discovery and Re-Use: Include, where applicable, a description of documentation plans, annotation of relevant software, and the rationale for the selection of appropriate standards. Existing, accepted community standards are encouraged. Where community standards are missing or inadequate, the DMP could propose alternate strategies that facilitate sharing, and should advise the sponsoring program of any need to develop or generalize standards.
  • Department of Transportation (DOT)

    Key points:

  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

    Key points:

    • FDA Guidance: FDA's plan (also see the FDA Staff Manual Guide for specific public access details) 
    • Public Access to Manuscripts:
      • Extramural funded researchers must agree to provide the final published article metadata to PubMed upon publication, and the final published article to PMC within 12 months of its publication date.
      • Researchers may submit final, peer-reviewed versions of their articles into PubMed Central (PMC) via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS).
    • Data Sharing:
      • Extramural FDA-funded researchers will provide public access to research data as provided in the applicable approved data management plan. In addition, an extramural FDA-funded researcher will provide access to the digital data supporting any published research, consistent with the commitment in the approved data management plan, upon publication of a peer reviewed article based on those data.
      • The developed agency policies will expressly allow extramural researchers to include planned data management costs in their proposals.
    • Data Management Plan: FDA requires that data management plans (DMPs) be developed and followed by both intramural and extramural researchers.
    • Note: Failure to comply with the publication access and data management requirements—including the periodic reporting requirements―may serve as grounds to terminate the contract or cancel the grant.
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Key points:

    • NASA guidelines: NASA's plan | FAQs | Guidance
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: All NASA-funded authors and co-authors (both civil servant and non-civil servant) are required to deposit copies of peer-reviewed scientific publications and associated data into NASA’s publication repository called PubSpace.
    • Data Sharing: For data, NASA has developed a Data Portal—a catalog of data resulting from NASA funding. NASA's data catalog is not a repository of data, it is a registry that has information describing the dataset (i.e., metadata) and information about where and how to access the data. The public has access to the catalog and associated data free of charge. NASA is also exploring the development of a research data commons for storing and sharing data, but nothing specific at this point.
    • Data Management Plan: All proposals or project plans submitted to NASA for scientific research funding are required to include a DMP (see DMP requirements and guidance).
  • National Endowment for the Humanities

    Key points:

    • NEH guidelines: NEH Office of Digital Humanities Data Management Plan requirements 
    • Data Sharing: Plans for sharing the data should be described, including provisions for protecting privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, and other rights or requirements. It should also address how timely access to the data will be assured.
    • Data Management Plan:
      • The NEH requires applicants for grants administered by its Office of Digital Humanities to submit data management plans (no more than 2 pages) with their proposals.
      • If the project is awarded a grant, NEH will require the grantee to discuss compliance with the DMP in post award reports.
      • The DMP should address two man topics: What data will your research generate? What is your plan for managing the data?
      • The DMP should describe the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, or other materials to be produced in the course of the project, and then describe the expected types of data to be retained.
      • The DMP should describe how the project team will manage and disseminate the data. It should also outline the roles of the team members, and describe what would occur if project directors leave the institution.
      • The DMP should describe the physical and cyber resources and facilities that will be used to preserve and store research data.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

    Key points:

  • National Institutes of Justice (NIJ)

    Key points:

    • NIJ Guidance: Data Archiving Plans for NIJ Funding Applicants
    • Data Sharing:
      • In most instances, NIJ requires data sets resulting from funded research to be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD).
      • Data sets must be submitted 90 days before the end of the project period.
      • Some amount of grant award funds is typically withheld for submission of research data along with the final report and other products/deliverables.
    • Data Archiving Plan:
      • A brief (one- or two-page) data archiving strategy is required.
      • The Data Archiving Plan should include a description of the proposed data management and archiving process, including confidentiality protections and level of effort associated with meeting archiving requirements.
      • Describe how the data will be prepared and documented to allow reproduction of the project’s findings as well as future research that can extend the scientific value of the original project.
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

    Key points:

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

    Key points:

    • NOAA guidance: NOAA's plan | Public Access to Research Results (PARR)
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Final peer reviewed manuscripts must be submitted to NOAA repository for sharing within 12 months.
    • Data Sharing: Data must be made available with article publication for supporting data, or within one year of collection for other data.
    • Data Management Plan:
      • Data management plans are required and should be submitted with proposals for funding.
      • Data management plans should include plans to use well-documented, structured metadata and to make data discoverable and accessible.
      • Data management plans should include a repository where the data will be deposited, which may include existing NOAA data centers.
  • National Science Foundation (NSF)

    Key points:

    • NSF Guidance:  NSF is operating under its 2015 Public Access Plan, "Today’s Data, Tomorrow’s Discoveries: Increasing Access to the Results of Research Funded by the National Science Foundation". See About Public Access for more information. Furthermore, in February 2023, NSF released Public Access Plan 2.0. According to this publication, NSF will implement the new OSTP guidance regarding federally funded research results prior to the OSTP goal of December 31, 2025. The agency’s policy development for implementation of provisions in Section 3 will be completed and published before December 31, 2024. The effective date of NSF’s implementation will occur no later than January 31, 2025.
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Requires that either the version of record or the final accepted manuscript in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and papers in juried conference proceedings or transactions must be deposited in a public access compliant repository designated by NSF (NSF-PAR Public Access Repository).
    • Data Sharing: Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants. Cost of documenting, preparing, publishing, disseminating and sharing research findings and supporting material are allowable charges against the grant.
    • Data Management Plan: Proposals must include a document of no more than two pages uploaded under "Data Management Plan" as a the supplementary document. Plans must describe how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results, including data types, standards to be used for data and metadata formats, policies for access and sharing, provisions for re-use, and plans for archiving and preservation of access. See specific DMP requirements for each directorate.
    • Data Description to Support Discovery and Re-Use: In the DMP, include the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content (where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies).
  • US Agency for International Development (USAID)

    Key points:

    • USAID guidance: USAID's plan | USAID’s data policy (ADS Chapter 579) | USAID’s Public Access Plan
    • Public Access Plan Public Access to Manuscripts: Publication manuscripts must be submitted to the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse.
    • Data Sharing:
      • The Development Data Library (DDL) is the Agency’s repository of USAID-funded, machine readable data created or collected by the Agency and its implementing partners. Datasets and supporting documentation created or collected directly by USAID Operating Units or under USAID funded awards must be submitted for inclusion in the DDL.
      • CORs/AORs must designate an access level for each Dataset and document the rationale for the designation in the DDL. Datasets must be documented with one of these three access levels as mandated by the Open Data Policy (Section III.4), in consultation with Project Open Data.
      • Datasets submitted to the DDL must be in non-proprietary, machine readable format, regardless of whether the data are expected to be publicly released.
      • Datasets submitted to the DDL must also be accompanied by supporting documentation, defining the fields within the Dataset and any categories or labels within the Dataset that may require explanation to an individual not familiar with the data.
      • Datasets submitted to the DDL must not contain classified, proprietary, or personally identifiable information.
  • US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

    Key points:

    • USDA Guidance: USDA's plan
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Effective January 1, 2016, USDA/NIFA grantees will be required to deposit final, peer-reviewed manuscripts in the USDA public access archive system, PubAg. The Implementation Plan states, “The USDA will ensure easy search and download of scholarly publications resulting from USDA funds without charge no later than 12 months following publication.”
    • Data Sharing: Credentialed researchers with USDA funding are invited to deposit their data into the  Ag Data Commons.
    • Data Management Plan: Effective Fiscal Year 2019, NIFA is requesting DMPs for all competitive grants programs.
  • US Geological Survey (USGS)

    Key points:

    • USGS Guidance: Overview | USGS's plan  | FAQs | USGS Data Management website
    • Public Access to Manuscripts: Scholarly publications and associated unrestricted datasets resulting from USGS-funded research must be made freely available to the public. Electronic copies of publications must be made available through the USGS Publications Warehouse within one year of publication, through deposit in an Accepted Digital Repository.. The data used to support the research findings must be made available through the USGS Science Data Catalog immediately following data verification and approval.
    • Data Sharing:
      • Research data (i.e., the digital data required to validate research findings) must be made open, machine-readable, and digitally accessible to the public by time of publication of results dependent upon that data. Guidance is available on the USGS Data Management website.
      • Data published or released to the public must receive approval before release unless that data is preliminary or provisional. Guidance is available on the USGS Data Management website.
      • Approved data must be assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) from the USGS registration agent, and be accompanied by a recommended citation.
    • Data Management Plan: All new research proposals must include a Data Management Plan (DMP) describing standards and intended actions for acquiring, processing, analyzing, preserving, publishing/sharing, describing, backing up, and securing the project data.

More Info on Funding Agencies and their Data Management Policies: