Scholarly Communication and Open Access: Policies

Referred to by Peter Suber as the "BBB definition":

A growing number of funding agencies are adopting policies that require their researchers to make their publications openly available (without subscription barriers) to the public and other researchers either by depositing their articles in an open-access repository -- either an institution-based repository (e.g. WinnSpace) or discipline/subject-based repository (e.g. arXiv.org) or publishing in an open access journal. 

Here's a list of the some of the policies:

NOTE: The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada(SSHRC) (“the Agencies”) are federal granting agencies that promote and support research, research training and innovation within Canada. As of October 2013, a new tri-agency open access policy is currently under development: Policies and Guidelines Open Access : Draft Tri-Agency Open Access Policy

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR): Open Access Policy

As of January, 2013, CIHR-funded researchers will be required to make their peer-reviewed publications accessible at no cost within 12 months of publication – at the latest. While the revised Policy provides researchers with clear guidance on CIHR's minimum expectation, in the spirit of public benefits of research, CIHR continues to  encourage researchers to make their publications accessible for free as soon as possible after publication. Compliance with the Open Access Policy will continue to be monitored through end of grant reporting.

Genome Canada

Is committed to the principle of rapid sharing of the outputs of Genome Canada-funded research.

Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) of Canada, Research Programs

HSF requires that all researchers supported in whole or in part make their research outputs publicly available as soon as possible, but no later than six months after the final publication or availability of final results.

Grant recipients are also required to deposit bioinformatic, atomic, and molecular coordinate data, as already required by most journals, into the appropriate public database immediately upon publication of research results.

National Institutes of Health (NIH): Public Access Policy

"All investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s  PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication,  to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication."

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Council (NSERC) Use of Grant Funds

NSERC grant funds may be used defray the costs of disseminating research results in a variety of ways.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Policy on Open Access

SSHRC’s governing council approved a policy on open access in 2006, deciding to take “an awareness-raising,  educational and promotional approach to [the policy’s] implementation, rather than imposing mandatory  requirements.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Data Arching Policy

SSHRC adopted a policy to facilitate making data collected with SSHRC funds available to other researchers. Costs associated with preparing research data for deposit are considered eligible expenses in SSHRC research grant programs. Research data includes quantitative social, political and economic data sets; qualitative information in digital format; experimental research data; still and moving image and sound data bases; and other digital objects used for analytical purposes.  All research data collected must be preserved and made available within 2 years of the completion of the research project for which the data was collected.

Tri-Council Policy Statement on the Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans

“Researchers should ensure that the data obtained are stored with all the precautions appropriate to the sensitivity of the data. Data released should not contain names, initials or other identifying information. While it may be important to preserve certain types of identifiers (e.g., region of residence), these should be masked as much as possible using a standardized protocol before the data are released for research purposes.”

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

CIHR requires grant recipients to deposit certain data types - bioinformatics, atomic, and molecular coordinate data - into the appropriate public database immediately upon publication of research results. CIHR also requires researchers to retain original data sets arising from CIHR-funded research for a minimum of five years after the end of the grant. They have plans to review this policy in the near future and possibly expand it.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

SSHRC has a Research Data Archiving Policy in place since 1990. The policy requires that “All research data collected with the use of SSHRC funds must be preserved and made available for use by others within a reasonable period of time. SSHRC considers “a reasonable period” to be within two years of  the completion of the research project for which the data was collected.”

Natural Sciences and Engineering Resaerch Council (NSERC)

NSERC no general policy in regards to research data. They do, however, have guidelines for researchers funded through the NSERC Strategic Networks Program. The guidelines state, “To encourage the sharing and  dissemination of research data and its use by others within a reasonable period of time, an agreement regarding  responsibility for the maintenance and preservation of large data sets must be in place at the outset of network activities.”