On June 24, 2026, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced its plan to revisit and review its financial assistance policies and procedures document for grants. The current Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide will be renamed to the Guidance on Financial Assistance (GFA) and is a preliminary alignment for OMB’s newly proposed rule on Uniform Guidance.
In the request for information released about the update on June 24, 2026, NSF notes the purpose is to “incorporate plain language, clarify language, separate policies from procedures, remove policies no longer relevant, incorporate mandated statutory, regulatory, Executive Order, and policy-related changes”
The proposed changes include, but are not limited to,
- Removing the 12-month publication delay for peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings
- Mandating researchers deposit author-approved manuscripts and datasets in NSF’s public access repository at or before publication
- Disallowing publication costs consistent with proposed revisions in the aforementioned Uniform Guidance rule
- The proposed rule changes eliminate the use of NSF funding to cover the costs associated with making articles/publications open access, but require researchers to do so.
- Replacing the NSF’s “Dual Use Research of Concern” (DURC) framework with new requirements for “Dangerous Gain of Function” research which focuses on infectious agents and toxins.
- Removing provision allowing NSF to return proposals without review based on credible national security concerns
- Adds a pilot of the “Trusted Research Using Safeguards and Transparency” (TRUST) framework which will allow proposals that might have been returned without review to instead go through a risk mitigation process.
- Removing the accomplishment-based renewal mechanism, instead requiring renewals to go through a standard process.
Following the comment period, NSF will submit a request with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), seeking clearance of the guidance for no longer than three years.
The request for information (RFI) period is open until August 24, 2026. The Office of Government Relations, OVPR and the Office of General Counsel are reviewing the potential impact of the proposed updates to the PAPPG and determining how best to coordinate any institution-led comments. We are actively coordinating with peer institutions to determine the most effective way to provide responsive information. Individuals may respond to this proposal, but may not use university letterhead to do so and must clearly identify any stated views as their own.