Purpose

The purpose of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Public Access Plan (“the Plan”) is to increase public access to the results of USAID funded research in response to the February 22, 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Memorandum, Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research and the August 25, 2022 OSTP Memorandum, Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research. These memoranda recommend that Federal departments and agencies with an annual Research and Development (R&D) expenditure of more than $100 million develop a plan to increase public access to the results of federally funded research. This Plan will guide the development of Agency procedures and policies to achieve this objective. It will make USAID-funded research products available and accessible to the public, industry, and scientific community unencumbered to the extent allowable by applicable law. These research products include peer-reviewed research publications, datasets, and other supporting artifacts. Through greater access to these products, USAID will maximize its return on investment in research and will expedite evidence-based policy making in support of its mission around the world.

Objectives

USAID’s Public Access Plan is designed to promote the following objectives:

• Establish USAID’s commitment to increase public access to results of scientific research; 

• Support best practices for managing scholarly publications and scientific research data to achieve broad-based development objectives; 

• Preserve and increase the use of research results to enhance scientific discovery in support of USAID’s development objectives; 

• Promote and contribute to USAID’s scientific integrity; and 

• Support USAID’s efforts to achieve Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access by enhancing access to federally funded research.

Plan approved on: March 8, 2024; Published on: April 1, 2024

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