Gates Open Access Policy Refresh Increases Compliance Burden and Eliminates Financial Support

Gates Foundation grantees find themselves once again facing a new Open Access Policy that increases their compliance burden. And, though the compliance burden increases, financial support for open access and other publication-related fees, which functioned to smooth pathways for compliance under the previous 2015 and 2021 policies, is eliminated. This essay explains and compares the 2021 and 2025 policies, argues that the rollout of the new policy led to misunderstandings, and details possible implications for grantees, readers, and publishers.