Open but Hidden: Open Access gaps in National Science Foundation funded publications as posted online in the NSF Public Access Repository

• Type of Material: Poster
• Authors: Kimberly R. Powell, Emory University; Jenny Townes, Emory University; Fred Rascoe, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-05-19
• Publisher: Emory University Libraries
• Copyright Statement: © 2025 The Author(s).
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Conference or Event Name: MLA/SLA
• Keywords: national science foundation; open access

Abstract

In August of 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a memo updating its 2013 guidance for making publicly funded research open and available. However, there are thousands of publications that should have been made available by now via the terms of the 2013 memo. Yet, access to some of those works may remain behind paywalls. This project looks at National Science Foundation funded research conducted at two R1 Universities. Preliminary findings suggest that some publications identified as available through the NSF Public Access Repository remain only available as the copyrighted version of record behind paywalls. The project team searched for papers published from two R1 Universities and funded by the NSF, using the NSF’s own Public Access Repository (PAR). Searches were limited to 2017-2020 where the 2013 OSTP memo was in effect, and all embargoes allowed by the policy would have expired. Records were reviewed to determine if the PAR held a copy, or if it directed users to an open version elsewhere (usually a publisher site). In cases where the PAR directed users with a link, two authors evaluated whether or not an open access version was actually available at the link provided, or if it was available openly elsewhere online. In addition to tracking the number of papers that should have been available but weren’t as a percentage of the total, the project team also tracked and compared similarities and differences in publications produced by the two schools, and compared journal/publisher information to see if any trends emerged. The project team will consider how this study can be expanded to a wider range of publication output, and how the agnostic position on copyright in the policy may leave some research closed, when it should instead be open and accessible to the public.