Read all about it: NSF Public Access Policy
Public access to copyrighted material
NSF’s policy on public access to copyrighted material (Public Access Policy) reflects the Foundation’s commitment to making certain that, to the extent possible, the American public, industry, and the scientific community have access to the results of federally funded scientific research. Pursuant to this policy, grantees must ensure that articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and papers in juried conference proceedings are:
- Deposited in a public access-compliant repository (as identified in the Public Access Policy)
- Available for download, reading, and analysis within 12 months of publication
- Possess a minimum set of machine-readable metadata elements as described in the Public Access Policy
- Reported in annual and final reports with a persistent identifier
Either the final printed version or the final peer-reviewed manuscript is acceptable for deposit. NSF’s Public Access Policy applies to awards, funded in whole or in part, as a result of proposals submitted or due on or after January 25, 2016. Each NSF grant contains, as part of the grant terms and conditions, an article implementing the public access requirements.