Public Workshop on Enhancing Public Access to HHS-Funded Research Results

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The National Academies will host a public workshop, bringing together stakeholders to inform the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as they develop and update policies aimed at enhancing public access to the results of HHS-funded research.

Beginning on November 30, 2023, at the National Academy of Sciences building, this two-day workshop will serve as a platform for engaging authors, investigators, research institutions, libraries, scholarly publishers, scientific societies, healthcare providers, patients, students, educators, and research participants. The focus will be on topics related to scholarly publications, with the aim of fostering a comprehensive and equitable approach to making research accessible to the public.

Key Workshop Themes

The workshop will feature a series of invited presentations and discussions addressing crucial themes, including:

1. Equity in Publication Opportunities: Exploring additional measures agencies could adopt to promote equity in publication opportunities for researchers supported by NIH, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration for Community Living (ACL), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other HHS agencies. The goal is to avoid reinforcing existing disparities in publishing opportunities.
2. Enhancing Access and Accessibility: Discussing strategies to improve equity in access to publications by diverse user communities. This includes the removal of the currently-allowable 12-month embargo period for federally-supported publications.
3. Monitoring Publication Fees: Examining effective approaches for monitoring trends in publication fees and their impact on affected communities. Participants will share their perspectives on what constitutes a “reasonable” cost.
4. Improving Findability and Transparency: Delving into considerations for increasing the findability and transparency of research. This will include efforts to enhance the use of persistent identifiers (PIDs) such as ORCID IDs, DOIs, RoR IDs, and metadata. Institutions and researchers’ experiences with the adoption of different identifiers across publications and research data will also be discussed.

Workshop Agenda and Proceedings

The planning committee will curate an engaging agenda, featuring thought-provoking speakers and discussants. Expert moderators will facilitate discussions on these critical topics. Following the workshop, a proceedings-in-brief, summarizing the presentations and discussions, will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.

Additional Information

See the event posting for more information including committee, venue directions, and contact information.

Enhancing Public Access to the Results of Research Supported by the Department of Health and Human Services - A Workshop View Official Announcement