# Open-Access Mandates
**Domain:** policy
**Doc Type:** Concept Node
**Classification:** Infrastructure Concept
**Maturity:** Evolving
**Related:** [[OSTP Data Mandates]], [[Open Access]], [[Measurement Capacity]], [[Governance Testbeds]], [[Operational Systems]]
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## Definition
**Binding requirements that research, data, or publications funded by public entities must be made freely available**, establishing legal obligations rather than voluntary compliance. Mandates increase public access at cost of compliance burden.
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## General Context
EU open data directives, NIH public access mandate, and Plan S requirements for research organizations exemplify increasingly comprehensive mandates. Mandates aim to ensure public return on public investment.
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## Key Insight
Mandates dramatically accelerate open-access adoption but require infrastructure (repositories, standards) and clarify distribution of compliance costs.
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## See Also
[[OSTP Data Mandates]], [[NOAA Data Pipelines]], [[Computational Governance]], [[Climate Justice and Global Reparative Systems]], [[Model-Based Governance]]