Federal Public Access Policy
As stated on the University of Florida’s Public Access Policies Website:
“The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a directive on February 22, 2013 requesting federal agencies with more than $100 million in research and development expenditures to develop plans to make the results of federally-funded research publicly available free of charge within 12 months after original publication.”
To this end, PIs are required to know the regulations regarding data management plans for each grant submitted as specific requirements may vary by granting agency. The University of Florida’s policies on public access to data and data management plans are available here: http://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/ScholComm/publicaccessFAQ.
Data management plans are an essential component of ensuring that federally-funded research will be made publicly available. As of early 2016, almost all federal funding agencies have begun requiring data management plans to be submitted in conjunction with large grant proposals (Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC). Data management plans outline how and for how long research data will be preserved as well as how it will be used.
Notably, a dedicated Data Management Librarian is available to address any questions PIs may have regarding the data management plan process. The George A. Smathers Library System has created a specific and highly recommended guide explaining how to develop a data management plan for grants based out of the University of Florida (http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/datamanagement). Additionally, the University’s Division of Sponsored Programs has grant analysts and compliance officers who can help with the details of compliance. Further, the Scholarly Communications Librarian or the library liaison assigned to your department can advise you on the many practical applications of compliance with a federal public access policy and can advise on such issues as choosing an appropriate repository where one is not specified.
Additional resources on how to construct a data management plan are also available through North Carolina State University (https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/guides/datamanagement/funding_agencies) with additional templates and examples available at https://dmptool.org/guidance?method=get&scope1=all (Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC).
Sources:
- Grant Writers’ Seminars and Workshops, LLC, http://www.grantcentral.com/all-federal-funding-agencies-require-data-management-plans-in-2016/
- UF Libraries, http://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/ScholComm/publicaccessFAQ
- UF Libraries, http://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/scholcomm/publicaccess.aspx
