[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4004 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4004

   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

                            February 9, 2012

    Mr. Doyle (for himself, Mr. Yoder, and Mr. Clay) 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 2012''.

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 OF FEDERAL AGENCY.

    In this Act, the term ``Federal agency'' means an Executive agency 
as defined under section 105 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 12 months 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 available at the same time such works are 
                made 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.
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