As of Jan. 1, 2026, all projects sponsored by U.S. federal funding agencies will include public access policies to scholarly publications and data resulting from federally funded research.
Building public access into your research from the start is essential to avoid delays and prevent issues with grant reporting. Use this overview to find important information, resources and frequently asked questions to ensure your research plan is on track. Remember to connect early with ASU Library Research Support to get help with your research and publishing activities.
Make public access compliance part of your research plan today
Public access compliance is a critical component of your research plan. Incorporating these steps early will save you time, reduce costs and prevent last-minute issues with your grant reporting. Take the following steps to integrate public access strategies throughout the lifecycle of your project.
Proposal submission
Register your ORCID: An ORCID is required for many funders or publishers and automatically connects your grants, publications and affiliations in interoperable systems.
Budget for potential costs: While we prioritize a no-cost pathway, allocate funds for Article Processing Charges if you plan to publish in journals that require them, or for any potential data curation or hosting fees. Be aware that fees directly targeting deposit of an Author Accepted Manuscript, like the ACS Article Development Charge, may not be an allowable cost according to NIH guidance on publication costs.
Project start-up
Develop a detailed data management and sharing plan: Consult the Research Data Management Office or use the DMP Tool to define your data standards, metadata and preservation strategy.
Select your repository for your final research data (e.g., ASU Research Data Repository, Zenodo or an agency-specific one like NIH’s Vivli).
Manuscript draft
Identify free open access options: Before submitting your manuscript, use resources like the JISC Open Policy Finder or PMC Journal List to identify publishers or journals that allow immediate, no-embargo deposit of the Author Accepted Manuscript into an institutional or agency repository.
Submission and acceptance
Notify your publisher: Ensure your publisher is aware of your funder's public access requirements in the submission system's funding section. Check your Notice of Award for exact wording requirements (Consult the SPARC Federal Agency Requirements tool for requirement information) and consider adding this statement:
"This manuscript is the result of funding in whole or in part by the [name of federal agency]. It is subject to the agency's Public Access Policy. Through acceptance of this federal funding, [name of federal agency] has been given a right to make this manuscript publicly available in [agency designated repository] upon the Official Date of Publication, as defined by the agency."
Scrutinize your publisher agreement: Read the agreement before you sign it. Ensure the terms allow you to retain the necessary rights, specifically the right to post the final manuscript immediately upon publication in a public repository to meet the zero-embargo requirement.
Final reporting
Deposit and register your work: Immediately upon acceptance, deposit the final version of your Author Accepted Manuscript and your final supporting data into the designated repositories. Ensure both your publication and data are properly registered using persistent identifiers, such as DOIs.
We're here to help!
Reach out to our team if you have questions or need guidance with these processes.