[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47177-47178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18975]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Draft Policy and Implementation Plan for Public Access to 
Scientific Publications and Digital Data From Research Funded by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: This Federal Register Notice announces an opportunity for 
public review and comment on the draft Policy and Implementation Plan 
for Public Access to Scientific Publications and Digital Data from 
Research Funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

DATES: Comments must be received by VA on or before October 14, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through http://www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand delivery to the Director, 
Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 
Vermont Avenue NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 
273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response 
to ``Policy and Implementation Plan for Public Access to Scientific 
Publications and Digital Data from Research Funded by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.'' Copies of comments received will be available for 
public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, 
Room 1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an 
appointment (this is not a toll-free number). In addition, during the 
comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal 
Docket Management System at http://www.Regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Puglisi, Ph.D., Executive 
Director, Office of Research Oversight (10R), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20420, (202) 632-7676 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA's draft policy and implementation plan 
for increased public access to the results of its research was 
developed in response to recent White House initiatives on federally-
funded scientific research. In its February 22, 2013, memorandum, the 
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed 
each Federal agency with over $100 million in annual expenditures for 
the conduct of research and development to develop a plan to support 
increased public access to the results of research funded by the 
Federal Government, including digital data sets and results published 
in peer-reviewed scholarly publications arising directly from 
federally-funded research (OSTP, Increasing Access to the Results of 
Federally Funded Scientific Research, February 22, 2013).
    In implementing policies on public access to research publications 
and digital research data, VA must first remain cognizant of its 
ethical and legal obligations to safeguard the privacy of Veterans (and 
VA's other research subjects) and the confidentiality of their private 
information, while promoting the highest quality science. VA also 
recognizes that Veterans and the public at-large have a substantive 
interest in accessing the results of the research that VA conducts. 
VA's responsibility precludes unlimited public access to private 
information about individual research subjects. With this in mind, VA 
has carefully weighed the public benefits versus the risks of harm to 
Veterans in establishing the draft requirements.
    VA is committed to ensuring that the final study results, including 
peer-reviewed publications and digital data sets from VA-funded 
scientific research are made available to the scientific community, 
industry, and the general public with the fewest constraints possible, 
while protecting the privacy of the Veterans (and others) about whom 
research data are obtained and safeguarding the confidentiality of 
their data.
    Proposed requirements for public access to scientific publications 
will apply to all peer-reviewed publications reporting results of 
research that are either funded by the VA Office of Research and 
Development (ORD) or conducted, supported, or sponsored by any Veterans 
Health Administration (VHA) program office.
    Proposed requirements for public access to digital data will apply 
to the final research data underlying all peer-

[[Page 47178]]

reviewed publications reporting results of studies supported by ORD 
Cooperative Studies Program or ORD research awards of $500,000 or more 
in direct costs for any one year; and national studies conducted, 
supported, or sponsored by VHA program offices. VA proposes to begin 
sharing digital research data through controlled public access 
mechanisms and move toward open public access to the extent that the 
protection of Veterans' identifiable private information can be 
ensured.
    Availability: Persons with access to the Internet may obtain the 
document at: http://www.va.gov/ORO/Docs/Guidance/Plan_for_Access_to_Results_of_VA_Funded_Rsch_02_14_2014.pdf. Alternatively, the 
document may be obtained by mail or by calling the Office of Research 
Oversight at (202) 632-7676 (this is not a toll-free number).

Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this 
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document 
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as 
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jose D. 
Riojas, Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on July 31, 2014, for publication.

    Dated: August 6, 2014.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director, Regulation Policy and Management, Office of the General 
Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-18975 Filed 8-11-14; 8:45 am]
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