The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced two major policy changes, Friday

ending the 12-month optional embargo on federally funded peer reviewed research articles  “This provision has limited immediate equitable access of federally funded research results to only those able to pay for it or have privileged access through libraries or other institutions. Financial means and privileged access must never be the pre-requisite to realizing the benefits of federally funded research that all Americans deserve”

data in peer reviewed research to be immediately available on publication (with privacy/security protections)

“Providing the data that support findings in scientific papers improves transparency and the ability of others to replicate, and build on, the primary research findings.  Public access to federally funded research data also helps to level the playing field across a highly uneven funding landscape between academic disciplines – providing possibilities to scholars, students, and the public for secondary use of data that would otherwise be unavailable.”

the policies are supported by, “support for more vulnerable members of the research ecosystem unable to pay rising costs associated with publishing open access articles”

and researchers including publication and research data costs in budget proposals.

reaction For-profit journal giant Elsevier responded that it, “welcomes collaborative approach and acknowledgement of publishers value but warns the work isn’t done yet as ‘the devil is in the details’ “

what it all means: Ginny Barbour (Open Access Australasia) explains in Features, this morning.