Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House Issues Directive To Make Federally Funded Studies Free To Public
In a move hailed by open-access advocates, the White House on Thursday released guidance dictating that federally funded research be made freely and immediately available to the public. The Office of Science and Technology Policy鈥檚 guidance calls for federal agencies to make taxpayer-supported research publicly available immediately, doing away with an optional 12-month embargo. (Zahneis, 8/25)
In laying out the new policy, which is set to be fully in place by the start of 2026, the Office of Science and Technology Policy said that the guidance had the potential to save lives and benefit the public on several key priorities 鈥 from cancer breakthroughs to clean-energy technology. 鈥淭he American people fund tens of billions of dollars of cutting-edge research annually,鈥 Dr. Alondra Nelson, the head of the office, said in a statement. 鈥淭here should be no delay or barrier between the American public and the returns on their investments in research.鈥 (Patel, 8/25)
鈥淭he American people fund tens of billions of dollars of cutting-edge research annually. There should be no delay or barrier between the American public and the returns on their investments in research,鈥 Alondra Nelson, acting head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, says in a White House news release. 聽(Williams, 8/25)
鈥淭he devil鈥檚 in the details,鈥 said New England Journal of Medicine Editor-in-Chief Eric Rubin, who told STAT at least a third of the journal鈥檚 estimated 200 articles a year are attached to federal funding, though other funding streams do require open access. 鈥淚t does threaten the model of a carefully thought-out presentation and carefully getting research. We鈥檙e gonna have to think about how we can still do what we think is important.鈥 (Owermohle, 8/25)