NASA is seeking public comment for its draft Public Access Plan, which aims to improve the availability of data from scientific research and scholarly publications supported by the agency.
The agency issued an RFI notice inviting individuals and institutions from the scientific community, healthcare sector, and publishing entities to share their insights on the extent of access that should be allowed, and the concepts of software sharing and archiving.
The Public Access Plan is guided by the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research, which was first published in 2013 and updated in 2022.
NASA is attempting to expand access to research data while respecting the right of researchers and authors to decide where and how their results will be published.
The agency is considering submitting the final published materials to databases such as its Scientific, Technical And Research Information Discovery System, Astrophysics Data System, and NASA PubSpace. The documents would also appear in the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States.
NASA is counting on public feedback to shape its policies on equity in publication accessibility, monitoring community impact of publication fees and regulations, transparency of research and software archiving and management.
The deadline for comments is Aug. 17.
