USDA Public Access Essentials (updated)

Source: Implementation Plan to Increase Public Access to USDA-Funded Research Results

Regulation: Public Access to Scholarly Publications and Digital Scientific Research Data (DR 1020-006)

Impacts: All peer-reviewed journal articles arising from scientific research supported by any level of USDA funding and through any funding mechanism. Includes research that received:

  • Direct funding from a USDA grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2023 or beyond;
  • Direct funding from a USDA contract signed on or after October 1, 2022;
  • Direct funding or arrangement, including in-kind support, from any USDA Intramural Research

Timeline: The USDA public access policy became effective on December 31, 2025. Full agency implementation is expected by February 14, 2026. Journal articles impacted by the policy must be publicly accessible in the PubAg repository within 12 months of the date on which the publisher first makes the work available online.

Who Submits:  Authors, PI’s, and associated third parties (access to the PubAg Manuscript Submissions system requires a Login.gov account that is linked to a USDA eAuthentication)

What to Submit:  Author accepted manuscript or the final published version if the author has the right to do so (i.e., open access)

Format:  Manuscripts (pdf, doc, docx, txt); Images (xlsx, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, tiff)

Where to Submit:  PubAg Manuscript Submissions system

Repository:   PubAg

Notes:

  • Scholarly publications must receive digital persistent identifiers, such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). It is possible to submit to the PubAg Manuscript Submission system without a DOI.
  • All authors of scholarly publications must have individual digital persistent identifiers, such as the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID ID), that are linked to their scholarly publications.

Link to Bucky Submit