Department of Energy (DOE) Public Access Policy
Publishing Guidance
Selecting an appropriate publisher or journal is essential to ensure compliance with the DOE Public Access requirements. The updated policy requires that supporting data and peer-reviewed Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) be deposited at or before the time of publication, with no embargo.
Publisher agreements and embargo policies vary. If you are uncertain whether a publishing agreement will allow you to meet DOE requirements, we strongly recommend consulting a librarian prior to finalizing any agreements.
Ultimately the article must be deposited into DOE PAGES no later than the publication date to ensure compliance.
To achieve this, a journal/publisher must:
- Allow author rights to self-deposit without embargo
No publisher will automatically deposit into DOE PAGES on the authors behalf
Of note: publication date means the earliest public availability of the article, whether that is online or print.
Please keep this in mind as some publishers will publish an article online first and that first publication date is the date authors need to comply with.
An Article Processing Charge (APC) is a fee for open access and/or publishing with select journals/publishers.
- Some publishers may require an APC for publishing models that allow authors the right to self-deposit without embargo.
DOE does not prohibit reasonable open access fees as an allowable cost
DOE will allow researchers to include reasonable publication and associated costs as allowable expenses in all research budgets
Open Access (OA)
Publishing method that makes article freely available on the publisher’s website.
- Author must be permitted retention of rights to self-deposit to comply with DOE public access requirements
Types of OA policies
Gold
Published content is freely available to read but requires some form of payment by the author or their funder, typically as an APC.
Diamond/Platinum
(used interchangeably): Published content is freely available to read, and journals do not charge authors or readers.
Green
Journals grant right for author(s) to self-deposit into repositories or websites.
Occasionally have an embargo period to self-deposit, there cannot be an embargo to comply with the DOE public access requirements.
Public Access
Research that is made freely available to the public.
DOE ensures this by requiring all DOE-funded articles be deposited into the DOE PAGES repository.
Hybrid Access
Publisher has both a subscription and open access option. Must choose open access or must allow author to retain rights to self-deposit, to comply with this option.
Article processing charge (APC) generally required for open access
More about DOE Public Access
Not seeing what you're looking for?
We’re here to help—visit our FAQs, send us your questions or feedback, or contact your departmental compliance specialist for additional support.