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President Obama has maintained that information is "a national asset." It is from this proposition that the Administration
has taken the view that citizens deserve access to the results of research that is paid for by their tax dollars. With wide
public support, including more than 65,000 signatures on a We the People petition, and as part of its commitment in the Plan,
the Administration took one of the largest steps in history to increase access to the results of scientific research when,
in February 2013, the Administration issued a Public Access Memorandum to Federal agencies with more than $100 million in
research and development expenditures, directing them to develop plans to make the results of federally-funded research publically
available free of charge within twelve months after original publication. In addition, the Memorandum requires that agencies
address the need to improve the management and sharing of scientific data that are produced with Federal funding by requiring
federally-funded scientists to produce data management plans that detail how they will treat and share their data, and requiring
agencies to take steps to increase access to data. While the work to implement these directives is just beginning, the Administration
expects that wider availability to scientific publications and data will be a significant driver of scientific progress and
economic growth in the future.
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We will develop Federal guidelines to promote the preservation, accessibility, and interoperability of scientific digital
data produced through unclassified research supported wholly or in part by funding from the Federal science agencies.
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