Equity in Public Access to Scientific Research Results: Insights from Federal Agency Responses to the Nelson Memorandum Policy

Abstract

To empower progress in society, it is vital to ensure that scientific research results are transparent and freely available to everyone. Public Access is intended to solve issues that constrained scholarly communication and research advancement, namely accessibility, affordability, and equity. Yet, there is little agreement among funding and research agencies, policymakers, repository managers, and data producers about what equity means in public access to research results. This study offers insights into the meaning of equity in public access based on an empirical analysis of how federal agencies, as a key set of stakeholders, are responding to the requirement for equity in the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum on “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research”. The conclusion indicates little consensus on the concept of equity in public access to research results and a wide-ranging set of factors related to equity.