Photo of Tom Ciavarella, with glasses, beard, and curly dark hair, wearing a blue blazer and shirt, sitting, holding an open notebook, with conference badge around his neck. Background is a blurred conference room.

Concise, persuasive writing

My recent professional writing is largely on the benefits of Open Science. Some pieces are published under my name; others are signed and unsigned responses to requests for information (RFIs) submitted to US and Canadian federal agencies. I’ve published a few op-eds and done some ghostwriting too.

  • January 2025 - The Changing Landscape of Open Access Policies and Transformative Agreements

    Ciavarella T, Colangelo E. The changing landscape of open access policies and transformative agreements. Sci Ed. 2025;48. https://doi.org/10.36591/SE-4801-04

    February 2025 - Request for Information on the National Institutes of Health Draft Public Access Policy

    March 2025 - Frontiers reply on the Draft Revised Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications; delivered to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

    May 2025 - Response to the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) National Coordination Office (NCO), National Science Foundation, on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP); Request for Information on the Development of a 2025 National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development (R&D) Strategic Plan; Docket ID No. NSF-2025-OGC-0001

    September 2025 - Smarter Learning response to Request for Information on Maximizing Research Funds by Limiting Allowable Publishing Costs (Notice Number: NOT-OD-25-138); link to full text of submission / link to compiled public comments

  • August 2024 - Frontiers response to Request for Information on the National Institutes of Health Draft; Public Access Policy (89 FR 51537); PDF of submitted comment

  • April 2023 - Request for Information on the NIH Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research; Guide Notice Number: NOT-OD-23-091 (page 225)

    July 2023 - Response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Request for Information: National Priorities for Artificial Intelligence; Docket ID: OSTP-TECH-2023-0007 (full comment)

    July 2023 — The Scholarly Kitchen: The Nelson Memo and Public Access are Under Attack – Will Powerful Incumbents Come to its Rescue? (link)

    Tom provides examples of how some groups are not supporting the Biden Administration’s year-old public access policy.

    August 2023 - Request for Information: NASA Public Access Plan for Increasing Access to the Results of NASA-Supported Research

    October 4, 2023 — Times Higher Education: Who’s Afraid of Open Science? (link)

    Tom calls for an open debate on the White House’s open science policy.

    November 2023 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL) Notice of Stakeholder Listening Sessions Regarding Increasing Public Access to the Results of USDA-Funded Research; Document ID NAL-2023-0001-0001 (link)

    December 2023 - Response to Request for Information on Artificial Intelligence and Copyright; Federal Register Number 2023-18624, Document ID COLC-2023-0006-0001 (link)

    Tom, on behalf of the publisher Frontiers, presents a three-point plan for open science underpinning AI policy.

    December 2023 - Request for Information (RFI) on NSF Public Access Plan 2.0: Ensuring Open, Immediate, and Equitable Access to National Science Foundation Funded Research (link)

    December 2023 — TIME Magazine: Paywalls Are Slowing the Quest for a Cancer Cure (link)

    Tom, as a ghostwriter for a Frontiers colleague, positions open science as a benefit to cancer research.