ORFG Responds to NIH Public Access Plan RFI

The Open Research Funders Group (ORFG) is pleased to submit a response to the National Institutes of Health’s “Request for Information on the NIH Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research”. As detailed in our formal submission, the ORFG believes the NIH’s draft plan effectively addresses the federal government’s stated desire to co-develop practical public access strategies in a transparent and inclusive manner. The plan itself identifies mechanisms for the timely sharing of scholarly publications and research data. The draft plan wisely builds upon the lessons learned by NIH through both their long-term stewardship of PubMed Central and their recent rollout of the 2023 Data Management and Sharing Policy. 

In our feedback, the ORFG encourages the NIH to include clear guidance to grantees on open licensing requirements to codify and maximize reuse rights; persistent identifiers (PIDs) and metadata; and equitable routes to policy compliance via repository deposits and rights retention.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the NIH’s draft plan, and we look forward to providing feedback to additional agencies as they roll out their responses to the Nelson memo.