Following an October 2024 announcement, UT Libraries said it would be hosting its first workshop on May 15 for researchers to understand the new changes coming to federally funded research projects at UT because of a 2022 federal memorandum. 

Called the Nelson Memo, the 2022 notice requires federally funded research to be made available for public access as soon as it is published and without any embargoes placed on it starting Dec. 31, 2025. 

“The main benefit is that the research that’s happening here at the University is going to be much more widely available to people at the time of publication, rather than maybe after a 12-month delay,” said Colleen Lyon, head of Scholarly Communications.

Lyon said UT Libraries began planning ahead as soon as the federal government released the memo. Michael Shensky, head of Research Data Services, kept up to date with the memo and how it will impact UT researchers. 

“(I’ve been) looking at how these policies are being updated more broadly, and working …  to make sure that we are not only staying on top of these changes that are coming and will go into effect later this year, but also thinking about how we can develop resources to educate other members of the campus community,” Shensky said. “Their research can be impacted by these policies, and (we are) thinking through how we can build out our services and training offerings to keep everybody up to date on the latest requirements.”

UT Libraries offer several sources of information to help researchers understand the shift in policy. These sources include a LibGuide, a Data Management Planning Tool and access to the Texas Data Repository. UT Libraries is currently updating the LibGuide to accommodate the upcoming changes, Lyon said. These updates will include adding the agencies that have released their plans, and the new requirements for federally funded research and data. UT Libraries is also planning the first of several new workshops to help researchers understand the new changes and explain how the University will assist in the transition. 

While the Biden administration enacted the Nelson Memo, UT Libraries is not worried that it will be rescinded by the Trump administration, Lyon said.

“Open access to taxpayer-funded research is a bipartisan issue,” Lyon said. “Both Democrats and Republicans agree that it’s a good thing, so we don’t anticipate that the new administration is going to change what’s happening. It’s possible, I will say not probable, but it’s possible that the memo might get rescinded. But even if it gets rescinded, all of the agencies have been putting these new policies in place for two and a half years now.”