[BOAI] PRESS RELEASE: Doyle Introduces Bill to Ensure Public Access to Federally-Funded Research

[Peter Suber]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dinkel, Matt <Matt.Dinkel at mail.house.gov>
Date: Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 10:26 AM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Doyle Introduces Bill to Ensure Public Access to
Federally-Funded Research
To:


*For Immediate Release                       Contact:  202-225-2135*

* *

*Doyle Introduces Bill to Ensure Public Access to Federally-Funded Research*

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Washington, DC – February 9, 2012 – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA)
today introduced bipartisan
*legislation<http://doyle.house.gov/FRPA112FINAL.pdf>
* that directs federal agencies to encourage open public access to
federally funded scientific research.****

*“Americans have the right to see the results of research funded with
taxpayer dollars,”* Congressman Doyle said in introducing the Federal
Research Public Access Act.  *“Yet such research too often gets locked away
behind a pay-wall, forcing those who want to learn from it to pay expensive
subscription fees for access.”  *

*“The Federal Research Public Access Act will encourage broader
collaboration among scholars in the scientific community by permitting
widespread dissemination of research findings.  Promoting greater
collaboration will inevitably lead to more innovative research outcomes and
more effective solutions in the fields of biomedicine, energy, education,
and health care.”*

The *Federal Research Public Access
Act<http://doyle.house.gov/FRPA112FINAL.pdf>
*would require federal agencies with an extramural research budget of $100
million or more to make federally-funded research available for free online
access by the general public, no later than six months after publication in
a peer-reviewed journal.****

The Federal Research Public Access Act would: ****

   - Require federal departments and agencies with an annual extramural
   research budget of $100 million or more, whether funded totally or
   partially by a government department or agency, to submit an electronic
   copy of the final manuscript that has been accepted for publication in a
   peer-reviewed journal. ****
   - Ensure that the manuscript is preserved in a stable digital repository
   maintained by that agency or in another suitable repository that permits
   free public access, interoperability, and long-term preservation. ****
   - Require that each taxpayer-funded manuscript be made available to the
   public online and without cost, no later than six months after the article
   has been published in a peer-reviewed journal. ****

Original sponsors of the Federal Research Public Access Act are Reps. Kevin
Yoder (R-KS) and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO).  Identical legislation is also being
introduced in the U.S. Senate today by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden
(D-OR), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).  ****

** **

Echoing similar aims, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP) recently* *issued a Request for Information and collected
recommendations on approaches to ensure broad public access to
federally-funded scientific research.  (
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/library/publicaccess)****

** **

Congressman Doyle introduced similar legislation in the 111th Congress, and
he has been working since 2006 to ensure that taxpayers have access to the
research they’ve paid for.****

** **

Click *here <http://doyle.house.gov/FRPA112FINAL.pdf>* to read the Federal
Research Public Access Act.****

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