[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5253 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5253
To provide for Federal agencies to develop public access policies
relating to research conducted by employees of that agency or from
funds administered by that agency.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 6, 2010
Mr. Tiahrt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for Federal agencies to develop public access policies
relating to research conducted by employees of that agency or from
funds administered by that agency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Research Public Access Act
of 2010''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Federal Government funds basic and applied research
with the expectation that new ideas and discoveries that result
from the research, if shared and effectively disseminated, will
advance science and improve the lives and welfare of people of
the United States and around the world; and
(2) the Internet makes it possible for this information to
be promptly available to every scientist, physician, educator,
and citizen at home, in school, or in a library.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
In this Act the term ``Federal agency'' means an Executive agency
defined under section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, each Federal agency with extramural research expenditures
of over $100,000,000 shall develop a Federal research public access
policy that is consistent with and advances purposes of the Federal
agency.
(b) Content.--Each Federal research public access policy shall
provide for--
(1) submission to the Federal agency of an electronic
version of the author's final manuscript of original research
papers that have been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed
journals and result from research supported, in whole or in
part, from funding by the Federal Government;
(2) the incorporation of all changes resulting from the
peer review publication process in the manuscript described
under paragraph (1);
(3) the replacement of the final manuscript with the final
published version if--
(A) the publisher consents to the replacement; and
(B) the goals of the Federal agency for
functionality and interoperability are retained;
(4) free online public access to such final peer-reviewed
manuscripts or published versions as soon as practicable, but
not later than 6 months after publication in peer-reviewed
journals;
(5) production of an online bibliography of all research
papers that are publicly accessible under the policy, with each
entry linking to the corresponding free online full text; and
(6) long-term preservation of, and free public access to,
published research findings--
(A) in a stable digital repository maintained by
the Federal agency; or
(B) if consistent with the purposes of the Federal
agency, in any repository meeting conditions determined
favorable by the Federal agency, including free public
access, interoperability, and long-term preservation.
(c) Application of Policy.--Each Federal research public access
policy shall--
(1) apply to--
(A) researchers employed by the Federal agency
whose works remain in the public domain; and
(B) researchers funded by the Federal agency;
(2) provide that works described under paragraph (1)(A)
shall be--
(A) marked as being public domain material when
published; and
(B) made immediately available under subsection
(b)(4); and
(3) make effective use of any law or guidance relating to
the creation and reservation of a Government license that
provides for the reproduction, publication, release, or other
uses of a final manuscript for Federal purposes.
(d) Exclusions.--Each Federal research public access policy shall
not apply to--
(1) research progress reports presented at professional
meetings or conferences;
(2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, notes of
the author, phone logs, or other information used to produce
final manuscripts;
(3) classified research, research resulting in works that
generate revenue or royalties for authors (such as books) or
patentable discoveries, to the extent necessary to protect a
copyright or patent; or
(4) authors who do not submit their work to a journal or
works that are rejected by journals.
(e) Patent or Copyright Law.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to affect any right under the provisions of title 17 or 35,
United States Code.
(f) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than October 1, of each year,
the head of each Federal agency shall submit a report on the
Federal research public access policy of that agency to--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Science and Technology of the
House of Representatives;
(D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate;
(E) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate; and
(F) any other committee of Congress of appropriate
jurisdiction.
(2) Content.--Each report under this subsection shall
include--
(A) a statement of the effectiveness of the Federal
research public access policy in providing the public
with free online access to papers on research funded by
the Federal agency;
(B) a list of papers published in peer-reviewed
journals that report on research funded by the Federal
agency;
(C) a corresponding list of papers made available
by the Federal agency as a result of the Federal
research public access policy; and
(D) a summary of the periods of time between public
availability of each paper in a journal and in the
online repository of the Federal agency.
(3) Public availability.--The Federal agency shall make the
statement under paragraph (2)(A) and the lists of papers under
subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) available to the
public by posting such statement and lists on the Web site of
the Federal agency.
<all>