The Nelson memo, which was written for the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in August 2022, outlined several key principles for scholarly publishing and research:

  1. Immediate availability: Papers should be made available as soon as possible after they are accepted for publication.
  2. No fees: There should be no charge to access papers.
  3. No copyright restrictions: Papers should be published under a license that permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction.
  4. Quality assurance: The quality of papers should be maintained through peer review and other quality assurance mechanisms.

engrXiv satisfies all four of these principles. By making papers available immediately, without any fees, and under a Creative Commons license, engrXiv helps to ensure that the benefits of scientific research are shared widely.

  • Immediate availability: engrXiv makes papers available immediately upon submission, without any embargo period. This allows researchers to share their work with the world as soon as possible, and to benefit from feedback from other researchers early on.
  • No fees: engrXiv is free to use for both authors and readers. This removes financial barriers to access, and helps to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the scientific process.
  • No copyright restrictions: engrXiv papers are published under a Creative Commons license, which allows anyone to read, share, and build upon the research. This promotes collaboration and innovation, and helps to ensure that the benefits of scientific research are shared widely.
  • Quality assurance: engrXiv enables early review and scritiny of work posted to the server and enables transparency throuh real-time posting of the latest research as it becomes available.

In addition to satisfying the open access principles outlined in the Nelson memo, engrXiv also offers a number of other benefits to researchers. For example, engrXiv provides a forum for researchers to share their work with a wider audience, and to receive feedback from other researchers. engrXiv also helps to increase the visibility of engineering research, and to make it easier for researchers to find and cite relevant papers.