Federal Research: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Public Access to Research Results (GAO Report)

From the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

The 19 agencies that GAO reviewed have made progress implementing their plans to increase public access to federally funded research results (publications and data), as called for in a 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum. However, some agencies have not fully implemented some aspects of their plans, in particular those related to data access and mechanisms to ensure researchers comply with public access requirements.

Examples of Agencies’ Progress Implementing Plans to Increase Public Access to Federally Agencies are coordinating with each other and with nonfederal stakeholders to implement public access plans, including through an interagency group led by OSTP and five other agencies. However, the group has not fully implemented selected leading practices identified by GAO that can enhance and sustain interagency collaboration, such as defining and articulating common outcomes. For example, according to OSTP staff, key outcomes have not yet been decided upon. Agency officials and stakeholders identified several challenges to implementing public access plans that interagency coordination might help them address, such as

• Absence of common standards in several areas; • Measuring effectiveness of public access plan implementation; and

• Balancing providing public access with safeguarding sensitive information. By taking steps to fully implement relevant leading collaboration practices, the interagency group could help agencies better marshal their collective efforts to address common challenges to public access plan implementation.

Direct to Full Text Report (96 pages; PDF)

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