As part of our vision to accelerate scientific discovery, HHMI promotes models of communicating and evaluating research that prioritize transparency and make science more trustworthy. We support open access to research articles so that everyone can benefit from new scientific findings. 

From grassroots efforts to organizational policy innovations, the open access movement has embraced new technologies, publishing models, and markers of quality to share research more broadly while maintaining standards of rigor.  

HHMI supports these advances and will require the use of preprints to share findings early and openly, and allow for open scholarly review.  

HHMI Immediate Access to Research Policy  

The Immediate Access to Research policy,external link, opens in a new tab which took effect January 1, 2026, requires any original, peer-reviewed research articles with a major contribution from an HHMI lab to be made freely and publicly accessible as initial and revised preprints under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0external link, opens in a new tab) Public License.   

This policy continues HHMI’s ongoing efforts to foster a more open and transparent publishing ecosystem. Preprints – manuscripts published by authors on platforms like bioRxivexternal link, opens in a new tab – make discoveries available in days as opposed to months or years, allowing others to learn from and build on research at the speed of science. 

For more than two decades, HHMI has promoted greater access to scientific research. We are committed to continuing to evaluate how our policies can promote access as scholarly publishing evolves.

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HHMI’s mission to advance science through a “people, not projects" philosophy relies on the ability to identify and nurture outstanding scientific talent. HHMI staff and advisors invest significant time and effort in making the selection and review of HHMI scientists as rigorous and fair as possible.

As a supporting organization of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), HHMI is committed to improving how scientists are recognized and rewarded for their work.

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HHMI recognizes the transition to open science is a global endeavor that requires the actions of many organizations and individuals. For this reason, HHMI partners with several initiatives that are focused on cultivating culture change to improve scholarly communication and strengthen the reward and recognition system.

By working with these groups, we leverage the collective knowledge of stakeholders that are diverse in their roles, geography, and influence, and share a common interest in improving the research ecosystem.

Our open science philosophy extends to all aspects of our research. At Janelia, we are committed to sharing everything we do — ideas, techniques, data, reagents, tools, and innovations — with the global scientific community.

To ensure our innovations are widely accessible, we strategically partner with other organizations to host and disseminate them. We also invite researchers to come to Janelia to use our state-of-the-art microscopy tools as part of the Advanced Imaging Centerexternal link, opens in a new tab.