[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9488-9489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-03189]
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OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Request for Information: Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Scholarly
Publications, Data and Code Resulting From Federally Funded Research
AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
ACTION: Notice of request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: OSTP, and the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC)
Subcommittee on Open Science (SOS), are engaged in ongoing efforts to
facilitate implementation and compliance with the 2013 memorandum
Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific
Research \1\ and to address recommended actions made by the Government
Accountability Office in a November 2019 report.\2\ OSTP and the SOS
continue to explore opportunities to increase access to unclassified
published research, digital scientific data, and code supported by the
U.S. Government. This RFI aims to provide all interested individuals
and organizations with the opportunity to provide recommendations on
approaches for ensuring broad public access to the peer-reviewed
scholarly publications, data, and code that result from federally
funded scientific research.
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\1\ Retrieved from: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf.
\2\ Retrieved from: https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/702847.pdf.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before
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11:59 p.m. ET on March 16, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice may be
submitted online to Lisa Nichols, Assistant Director for Academic
Engagement, OSTP, at [email protected]. Email submissions
should be machine-readable [pdf, doc, txt] and not copy-protected.
Submissions should include ``RFI Response: Public Access'' in the
subject line of the message.
Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Each individual or
institution is requested to submit only one response. Submission must
not exceed 5 pages in 12 point or larger font, with a
[[Page 9489]]
page number provided on each page. Responses should include the name of
the person(s) or organization(s) filing the comment. Comments
containing references, studies, research, and other empirical data that
are not widely published should include copies or electronic links of
the referenced materials. No business proprietary information,
copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information should
be submitted in response to this RFI.
In accordance with FAR 15.202(3), responses to this notice are not
offers and cannot be accepted by the Federal Government to form a
binding contract. Additionally, those submitting responses are solely
responsible for all expenses associated with response preparation.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, please
direct your questions to Lisa Nichols at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In February of 2013, OSTP issued the
memorandum Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded
Scientific Research. The memorandum directed Federal agencies with more
than $100M in research and development (R&D) expenditures to develop
plans to make the results of federally funded unclassified research
that are published in peer-reviewed publications, and digitally
formatted scientific data, publicly available. Federal agency plans
required that published work be made available following a twelve-month
post-publication embargo period.
OSTP and the NSTC SOS continue to explore opportunities to make the
knowledge, information and data generated by federally funded research
more readily accessible to students, clinicians, businesses,
entrepreneurs, researchers, technologists, and the general public who
support these investments as a means to accelerate knowledge and
innovation. Over the course of the last two years, OSTP has had nearly
100 meetings with stakeholders on open science, current policy on
public access to the results of federally funded research, the
evolution of scholarly communications, and access to data and code
associated with published results. This RFI aims to expand on these
consultations and provide all interested individuals and organizations
with the opportunity to provide recommendations on approaches for
ensuring broad public access to the peer-reviewed scholarly
publications, data and code that result from federally funded
scientific research. OSTP is interested in perspectives on the
following topics:
What current limitations exist to the effective
communication of research outputs (publications, data, and code) and
how might communications evolve to accelerate public access while
advancing the quality of scientific research? What are the barriers to
and opportunities for change?
What more can Federal agencies do to make tax-payer funded
research results, including peer-reviewed author manuscripts, data, and
code funded by the Federal Government, freely and publicly accessible
in a way that minimizes delay, maximizes access, and enhances
usability? How can the Federal Government engage with other sectors to
achieve these goals?
How would American science leadership and American
competitiveness benefit from immediate access to these resources? What
are potential challenges and effective approaches for overcoming them?
Analyses that weigh the trade-offs of different approaches and models,
especially those that provide data, will be particularly helpful.
Any additional information that might be considered for
Federal policies related to public access to peer-reviewed author
manuscripts, data, and code resulting from federally supported
research.
Dated: February 12, 2020.
Sean Bonyun,
Chief of Staff, Office of Science and Technology Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-03189 Filed 2-18-20; 8:45 am]
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