The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) joined nearly half a million public comments opposing the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance).
Following the release of the proposal, SSP’s Board of Directors issued a statement expressing concern about its potential impact on scholarly publishing, research communication, and the broader research ecosystem. The organization’s Advocacy Committee convened a Town Hall with representatives from scholarly societies, publishers, libraries, research institutions, university presses, and service providers. Participants discussed the proposal, shared perspectives, and identified areas of common concern, reinforcing the importance of informed engagement.
SSP’s comment highlighted several practical consequences of the proposed rule:
● Publication costs — potential effects of requiring prior approval for expenses such as article processing charges.
● Infrastructure importance — recognition of peer review, editorial processes, preservation, metadata, accessibility, and discoverability as essential components of the federal research enterprise.
● Administrative burden — possible impacts on researchers, institutions, societies, publishers, and infrastructure providers.
● Role of societies — the contribution of memberships, conferences, and publications to collaboration, standards development, and scientific progress.
● Research dissemination — the need to ensure federally funded research is effectively preserved, discovered, and accessed.
According to Regulations.gov, nearly 497,000 comments were submitted during the public comment period, reflecting widespread concern across the research community. SSP noted that this level of engagement underscores the significance of the proposal for researchers, institutions, publishers, libraries, and professional societies.
Chris Bennett, Global Commercial Director at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, explained that sustainable policy change requires deliberate, collective action. He emphasized that while the transition to new requirements is complex and must be managed carefully to preserve trust in academic publishing, it remains essential to complete the process in a timely and sustainable manner.
Although the public comment period has concluded, SSP stated that its Advocacy Committee will continue to use insights gained through this process to strengthen its approach to future policy issues affecting scholarly publishing.
Click here to read the original press release.
