No. You can still choose whichever journal you prefer, but you must submit your article to an agency-designated repository regardless of publishing agreement terms. Federal regulations reserve nonexclusive license rights for academic articles resulting from federal awards to better help you retain the rights you need to comply.
No. Compliance with policy is based on making your research available in an agency designated repository, which is free.
Compliance with agency policies is wholly independent of any requirements a publisher might have. Some publishers may encourage you to pay an APC to make it easier to comply.
Making sure that your publishing agreement is not in conflict with agency policy is your responsibility.
On acceptance of your article by a journal, submit the Author Accepted Manuscript to your designated agency repository.
Each agency has a funding statement that should be included, as well as other procedures that are required for compliance. Review SPARC’s Data Sharing Requirements by Federal Agency for additional information.
Failure to comply with policy may impact your eligibility for future grant applications.
Each agency has different implementation plans. Most only apply to new awards after the policy takes effect, but some, such as the NIH, apply to existing awards. Review your funder's policy to verify whether it applies to your existing grant. The SPARC 2022 OSTP Public Access Memo policy page provides a quick overview of which agencies have immediate access policies in effect.
No. The OSTP memo directs that all peer-reviewed scholarly publications and their supporting data be made available immediately upon publication. The goal is to ensure immediate public access to the results of government-funded research.
For articles: This means the final peer-reviewed manuscript (or the final published version, if your publisher allows) must be made publicly accessible right away—you can no longer hold it back for 6 or 12 months.
For data: Your supporting data must also be made publicly available immediately upon publication of the corresponding article.