A public access policy is a policy that an institution or funder may set for sharing research publications and data. Most federal agencies in the US have policies that require federally funded research to be made available to the public. This can be in an institutional repository, an open access journal, or in some cases, both. Resources to locate these policies as well as links to NIH and NSF's policies can be found below.
With public access policies, there can be variations in copyright ownership depending on where research is required to be submitted. Content can also be subject to delays or embargos until it is available publicly. Therefore, the general public does not always immediately benefit from the freely available research upon publication the way open access in general does.
When applying for grant funding through NIH, NSF, or other agencies with public access policies, a biosketch may be required.
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is a free resource for researchers to create a biosketch, which can be shared with others or used to apply for federally funded research.