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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, April 7, 2026)
Impacts: All peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters 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 on or after October 1, 2022.
Timeline: The USDA public access policy became effective on December 31, 2025.
- Articles published from October 1, 2022, to April 6, 2026, must be made publicly accessible in PubAg within 12 months of the date on which the publisher makes the final published article available online
- On or after April 7, 2026, journal articles and book chapters must be submitted to the PubAg repository as soon as possible after acceptance, and no later than the date the publisher makes the article available online or publishes the book chapter.
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: 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, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters preprints and USDA-published scientific reports, 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.
Waivers: Authors may request a waiver to publish in journals that do not permit them to meet public access requirements. They must request the waiver prior to the initial submission to the journal.
