In November 2014, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that they are adopting an open access (OA) policy for publications and data, "to enable the unrestricted access and reuse of all peer-reviewed published research funded by the foundation, including any underlying data sets". This move has been widely applauded by those who are working in the area of capacity building and knowledge sharing.[citation needed] Its terms have been called the most stringent among similar OA policies. As of January 1, 2015 their Open Access policy is effective for all new agreements.

What did the foundation announce in November 2014