US Department of Energy Increases Access to Results of DOE-funded Scientific Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy is introducing new measures to increase access to scholarly publications and digital data resulting from Department-funded research. The Energy Department has launched the Public Access Gateway for Energy and Science – PAGES – a web-based portal that will provide free public access to accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts or published scientific journal articles within 12 months of publication.

“Increasing access to the results of research funded by the Department of Energy will enable researchers and entrepreneurs to capitalize on our substantial research and development investments,” said Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “These new policies set the stage for increased innovation, commercial opportunities, and accelerated scientific breakthroughs.”

As it grows in content, PAGES will include access to DOE-funded authors’ accepted manuscripts hosted primarily by the Energy Department’s National Labs and grantee institutions, in addition to the public access offerings of publishers. For publisher-hosted content, the Department is collaborating with the publisher consortium CHORUS -- the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States.

PAGES contains an initial collection of accepted manuscripts and journal articles as a demonstration of its functionality and eventual expanded content. Additional metadata and links to articles and accepted manuscripts will be added as they are submitted, with anticipated growth of 20,000 to 30,000 articles and manuscripts annually.

The Energy Department’s Office of Science also has issued new requirements regarding management of digital research data by Office of Science-supported researchers. All proposals for research funding submitted to the Office of Science will be required to include a Data Management Plan that describes whether and how the digital research data generated in the course of the proposed research will be shared and preserved.

The new requirements regarding management of digital research data will appear in funding solicitations and invitations issued by the Office of Science beginning Oct. 1, 2014. A statement of the new requirements, including guidance on the development of a Data Management Plan, can be found on the Office of Science website. Other Energy Department research offices will implement data management plan requirements within the next year.