The University of Iowa: AHRQ DMS Policy and Policy for Public Access to AHRQ-Funded Scientific Publications

Division of Sponsored Programs

AHRQ Data Management and Sharing Policy

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has published an updated Data Management and Sharing Policy (hereinafter “DMS Policy”). The DMS policy, effective December 18, 2024, applies to all AHRQ-funded grants and cooperative agreements, and research contracts that generate scientific data and metadata as described in the Policy unless otherwise specified in the funding announcement or request for proposal.

This policy requires applicants for AHRQ new and non-competing grants and research contracts to include a data management plan and a data sharing plan (DMS Plan) for managing, storing and disseminating the primary data, samples, physical collections, and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of research funded by AHRQ, and for sharing data, or state why data management and data sharing is not possible, as a component of their grant application or research contract proposal.

AHRQ intramural researchers are expected to submit DMS Plans with their research proposal. Moreover, all new grant applications and research contract proposals are encouraged to include a section detailing the applicants' progress and/or experience to-date with sharing data in digital format arising from previously funded AHRQ projects.

Implementation

The DMS Plan should be submitted under the Resource Sharing Plan section of a grant application or as an appendix for a research contract proposal. The plan will not count toward the page limit for grant applications or contract proposals.

Applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposed DMS Plan with the AHRQ Program Officials named in the grant funding announcement or the research contract proposal at the time of the application preparation.

Complete details regarding policy scope, implementation, post-award plan revisions, content of the DMS Plan, budget implications, post-award monitoring, and roles and responsibilities are included in the full announcement:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
NOT-HS-25-010
December 18, 2024

AHRQ Policy for Public Access to AHRQ-Funded Scientific Publications

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has published an updated Public Access Policy that requires that AHRQ-funded authors submit an electronic version of the author’s final peer-reviewed accepted manuscript to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance by the journal, and to be made publicly available without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.

This Policy applies to all peer-reviewed scientific publications arising from AHRQ-funded research grants and career development award mechanisms, cooperative agreements, contracts conducting research, Institutional and Individual Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, and AHRQ intramural research studies.

The AHRQ Public Access Policy requires an acknowledgment in the manuscript and Final Published Article that satisfies the requirements regarding communicating and acknowledging federal funding. AHRQ requests that recipients notify the Office of Communication (OC) when an AHRQ-funded research article has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Researchers should submit manuscripts that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal to JournalPublishing@ahrq.hhs.gov at least four to six weeks in advance of the journal’s expected publication date.

The AHRQ Public Access Policy requires that when a manuscript is submitted to NIH PMC, AHRQ-funded authors provide AHRQ with a standard license that mirrors that of the Government Use License at 45 CFR 75.322(b), or its successor regulation, explicitly granting AHRQ the right to make the manuscript publicly available through PubMed Central without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.

The AHRQ’s updated Public Access Policy for Scientific Publications will become effective for manuscripts accepted for publication after the date this Policy is published (December 18, 2024) and will not apply to any publication arising from an AHRQ-funded grant, cooperative agreement award, or research contract, funded prior to publication of this Policy. However, AHRQ encourages researcher with publications resulting from AHRQ funding prior to publication of this policy to submit final manuscripts for public access.

The AHRQ Public Access Policy is intended to be consistent with the NIH Public Access Policy. AHRQ recipients are encouraged to utilize the significant NIH resources available at https://publicaccess.nih.gov/

Complete details are included in the full announcement:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
NOT-HS-25-011
December 18, 2024