[BOAI] Call for action on FRPAA

[Peter Suber]

[Forwarding from SPARC and the Alliance for Taxpayer Access.  Also see the
ATA's online version of this call, http://bit.ly/a2878I  --Peter Suber.]


Call to action: Tell Congress you support the Federal Research Public Access
Act

Yesterday, Representatives Doyle (D-PA), Waxman (D-CA), Wasserman-Schultz
(D-FL), Harper (R-MS), Boucher (D-VA) and Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced the
Federal Research Public Access Act (HR 5037), a bill that would ensure free,
timely, online access to the published results of research funded by eleven
U.S. federal agencies.

All supporters of public access – universities and colleges, researchers,
libraries, campus administrators, patient advocates, publishers, consumers,
individuals, and others – are asked to ACT NOW to support this bill. See
below for actions you can take.

Now before both the House of Representatives and the Senate, FRPAA would
require those agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100
million or more to provide the public with online access to research
manuscripts stemming from such funding no later than six months after
publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The bill gives individual agencies
flexibility in choosing the location of the digital repository to house this
content, as long as the repositories meet conditions for interoperability
and public accessibility, and have provisions for long-term archiving.

The bill specifically covers unclassified research funded by agencies
including: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of
Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health
and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of
Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

FRPAA reflects the growing trend among funding agencies – and college and
university campuses – to leverage their investment in the conduct of
research by maximizing the dissemination of results.  It follows the
successful path forged by the NIH’s Public Access Policy, as well as by
private funders like the Wellcome Trust and campuses such as Harvard, MIT,
and the University of Kansas. The bill also reflects the Administration’s
recent expression of interest in the potential implementation of public
access policies across U.S. science and technology agencies – as indicated
by the call for public comment issued by the Office of Science and
Technology Policy, which closed in January.

Detailed information about the Federal Research Public Access Act is
available at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa.

Here’s how you can help support this legislation:

* Send thanks to the Bill’s sponsors, also through the ATA Action Center at
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa.

* Contact your representatives in Congress today and ask them to co-sponsor
H.R.5037 or S.1373. Act now through the ATA Legislative Action Center at
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa.

* Contact Congress now to express your organization’s support for public
access to taxpayer-funded research and for this bill. Send a copy of your
letter to sparc [at] arl [dot] org.

* Issue a public statement of support from your organization and share it
widely with members, colleagues, and the media. Send a copy to sparc [at]
arl [dot] org to be featured on the FRPAA Web site.

* Share news about this bill with friends and colleagues.

* Post the “I support taxpayer access” banner on your Web site.

See the ATA Web site at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org/frpaa for more ways
you can support public access to publicly funded research and this bill.

As always, thank you for your support and continued persistence in
supporting public access to publicly funded research in the United States.
Constituent voices make an unparalleled difference on Capitol Hill.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time.

Heather Joseph
Spokesperson for the Alliance and Executive Director of SPARC
Telephone: (202) 296-2296
Email: heather [at] arl [dot] org

Jennifer McLennan
Director of Programs & Operations, SPARC
Telephone: (202) 296-2296 ext. 121
Email: jennifer [at] arl [dot] org


-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Programs & Operations
SPARC
jennifer at arl.org
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
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SPARC 2010 Digital Repositories Meeting
November 8 & 9 - Baltimore, MD
http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/09-0223.shtml
*******************************
Open Access Week 2010
October 18 - 24. Everywhere.
http://www.openaccessweek.org
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http://www.arl.org/sparc
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