Manuscript and Data Deposit

Overview

NSF Supplemental Policy Notices 1 and 2 revise the timeline for public access to research data and manuscripts. Under these updates, supporting data and peer-reviewed Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) must be deposited in the NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) in accordance with the updated requirements.

If you’ve received financial assistance on or after December 8, 2025:
- Recipients must ensure the following:
  - Data supporting NSF-funded publications should be made freely and publicly available at the time of publication
    - Any exceptions must be described and justified within the Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP).
If you’ve received financial assistance on or after January 22, 2026:
- Recipients must ensure the following:
  - Peer reviewed Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) are deposited in the NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) at or before publication.
    - Deposits must be included as part of the annual project reporting process.
    - Fees for making published versions of record (VORs) publicly accessible are allowable.
  - Underlying datasets are made publicly available in accordance with the award’s Data Management and Sharing Plan (DMSP).
  - Existing persistent identifiers (PIDs) associated with any public access repository (PAR) entry are included in the PAR record.
    - If no PID is associated with an item being deposited in PAR, then minimal descriptive data should be entered manually.
  - AAMs and datasets should possess a minimum set of descriptive metadata elements. Those elements are normally supplied automatically via the PID.
    - If a PID is not available at the time of submission to PAR, then metadata must be manually entered.

Deposit publications and data in the NSF Public Access Repository (NSF-PAR)
- Log in via research.gov
  - Use login.gov credentials
    - Ensure your login.gov email matches your NSF account’s primary email
  - Choose “Deposit Publication” from “My Desktop”
NSF-funded AAMs must be deposited into the NSF Public Access Repository via research.gov to ensure they’re included in the annual and final grant reporting. Submission into another agency's repository (such as PMC) does NOT satisfy NSF requirements.
See Deposit Publications Guide under “Helpful Links”