Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and a bi-partisan host of co-sponsors (Rep. Rick Boucher, Rep. Gregg Harper, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Rep. Henry A. Waxman) have introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2010 (H.R. 5037) in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Here's an excerpt from the Alliance For Taxpayer Access press release:
The proposed bill would build on the success of the first U.S. mandate for public access to the published results of publicly funded research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and require federal agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with online access to research manuscripts stemming from funded research no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal. . . .
Like the Senate bill introduced in 2009 by Senators Lieberman (I-CT) and Cornyn (R-TX), H.R. 5037 would unlock 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.
H.R. 5037 follows closely on the heels of a recent expression of interest in public access policies from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which issued a request for public comment on mechanisms that would leverage federal investments in scientific research and increase access to information that promises to stimulate scientific and technological innovation and competitiveness.
The Alliance For Taxpayer Access issued a call to action regarding the bill. Here's an excerpt:
Here's how you can help support this legislation:
- Send thanks to the Bill's sponsors, also through the ATA Action Center.
- Ask your representatives in Congress to co-sponsor H.R.5037 or S.1373. Act now through the ATA Legislative Action Center.
- Express your organization's support to Congress 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.
