What Federal Government policies require the release of scientific data, and how does the USGS intend to meet these requirements? [088]

The OSTP's February 22, 2013, memorandum Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research requires that all Federal Government agencies with a research budget greater than $100 million must develop and implement a plan to support increased public access to the results of federally funded research. Agencies must ensure that the public can read, download, and analyze, in digital form, final peer-reviewed manuscripts or final published documents within a timeframe that is appropriate for each type of research conducted or sponsored by the agency. Further, the OSTP requires digitally formatted scientific data resulting from unclassified research supported wholly or in part by Federal funding to be stored and publicly accessible to search, retrieve, and analyze. Also refer to SM 502.8, which describes the requirements for review and approval of USGS scientific data prior to release. Additionally, the OMB's May 9, 2013, memorandum M-13-13, Open Data Policy—Managing Information as an Asset requires agencies to collect or create scientific information in a way that supports downstream information processing and dissemination activities, including using machine-readable and open formats, data standards, and common core and extensible metadata for all new scientific information creation and collection efforts. The Bureau's web page Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research at the U.S. Geological Survey provides information related to how the Bureau meets these OSTP and OMB requirements and includes a link to the USGS Public Access Plan. The USGS Public Access Plan requires that digital data, upon which scholarly conclusions in USGS funded publications are based, be made available no later than the time of publication of those scholarly conclusions in conformance with applicable USGS data management policies.