[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 18, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1630-S1631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 779. 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; to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 779

       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 ``Fair Access to Science and 
     Technology Research Act of 2015''.

     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;
       (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; 
     and
       (3) the United States has a substantial interest in 
     maximizing the impact and utility of the research it funds by 
     enabling a wide range of reuses of the peer-reviewed 
     literature that reports the results of such research, 
     including by enabling computational analysis by state-of-the-
     art technologies.

     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) Requirement To Develop Policy.--
       (1) 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 the purposes of the Federal agency.
       (2) Common procedures.--To the extent practicable, Federal 
     agencies required to develop a policy under paragraph (1) 
     shall follow common procedures for the collection and 
     depositing of research papers.
       (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 that 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) providing research papers as described in paragraph (4) 
     in formats and under terms that enable productive reuse, 
     including computational analysis by state-of-the-art 
     technologies;
       (6) 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
       (7) 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.

[[Page S1631]]

       (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 Federal 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) the results of a study by the Federal agency of the 
     terms of use applicable to the research papers described in 
     subsection (b)(4), including--
       (i) a statement of whether the terms of use applicable to 
     such research papers are effective in enabling productive 
     reuse and computational analysis by state-of-the-art 
     technologies; and
       (ii) an examination of whether such research papers should 
     include a royalty-free copyright license that is available to 
     the public and that permits the reuse of those research 
     papers, on the condition that attribution is given to the 
     author or authors of the research and any others designated 
     by the copyright owner;
       (C) a list of papers published in peer-reviewed journals 
     that report on research funded by the Federal agency;
       (D) a corresponding list of papers made available by the 
     Federal agency as a result of the Federal research public 
     access policy; and
       (E) 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.--A 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 website 
     of the Federal agency.
                                 ______