II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2695 

To provide for Federal agencies to develop public access policies relating 

to research conducted by employees of that agency or from funds administered by that agency. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2006 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for Federal agencies to develop public access 

policies relating to research conducted by employees of 

that agency or from funds administered by that agency. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Research Pub5 lic Access Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Federal Government funds basic and 

9 applied research with the expectation that new ideas 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•S 2695 IS

1 and discoveries that result from the research, if 

2 shared and effectively disseminated, will advance 

3 science and improve the lives and welfare of people 

4 of the United States and around the world; and 

5 (2) the Internet makes it possible for this infor6 mation to be promptly available to every scientist, 

7 physician, educator, and citizen at home, in school, 

8 or in a library. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

10 In this Act the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex11 ecutive agency defined under section 105 of title 5, United 

12 States Code. 

13 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, each Federal agency with 

16 extramural research expenditures of over $100,000,000 

17 shall develop a Federal research public access policy that 

18 is consistent with and advances purposes of the Federal 

19 agency. 

20 (b) CONTENT.—Each Federal research public access 

21 policy shall provide for— 

22 (1) submission to the Federal agency of an elec23 tronic version of the author’s final manuscript of 

24 original research papers that have been accepted for 

25 publication in peer-reviewed journals and result from 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•S 2695 IS

1 research supported, in whole or in part, from fund2 ing by the Federal Government; 

3 (2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 

4 from the peer review publication process in the 

5 manuscript described under paragraph (1); 

6 (3) the replacement of the final manuscript 

7 with the final published version if— 

8 (A) the publisher consents to the replace9 ment; and 

10 (B) the goals of the Federal agency for 

11 functionality and interoperability are retained; 

12 (4) free online public access to such final peer13 reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon 

14 as practicable, but not later than 6 months after 

15 publication in peer-reviewed journals; 

16 (5) production of an online bibliography of all 

17 research papers that are publicly accessible under 

18 the policy, with each entry linking to the cor19 responding free online full text; and 

20 (6) long-term preservation of, and free public 

21 access to, published research findings— 

22 (A) in a stable digital repository main23 tained by the Federal agency; or 

24 (B) if consistent with the purposes of the 

25 Federal agency, in any repository meeting conVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:19 May 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2695.IS S2695

ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•S 2695 IS

1 ditions determined favorable by the Federal 

2 agency, including free public access, interoper3 ability, and long-term preservation. 

4 (c) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal re5 search public access policy shall— 

6 (1) apply to— 

7 (A) researchers employed by the Federal 

8 agency whose works remain in the public do9 main; and 

10 (B) researchers funded by the Federal 

11 agency; 

12 (2) provide that works described under para13 graph (1)(A) shall be— 

14 (A) marked as being public domain mate15 rial when published; and 

16 (B) made immediately available under sub17 section (b)(4); and 

18 (3) make effective use of any law or guidance 

19 relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern20 ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub21 lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 

22 for Federal purposes. 

23 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac24 cess policy shall not apply to— 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•S 2695 IS

1 (1) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 

2 notes of the author, phone logs, or other information 

3 used to produce final manuscripts; 

4 (2) classified research, research resulting in 

5 works that generate revenue or royalties for authors 

6 (such as books) or patentable discoveries, to the ex7 tent necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 

8 (3) authors who do not submit their work to a 

9 journal or works that are rejected by journals. 

10 (e) PATENT OR COPYRIGHT LAW.—Nothing in this 

11 Act shall be construed to affect any right under the provi12 sions of title 17 or 35, United States Code. 

13 (f) REPORT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, of 

15 each year, the head of each Federal agency shall 

16 submit a report on the Federal research public ac17 cess policy of that agency to— 

18 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (B) the Committee on Government Reform 

21 of the House of Representatives; and 

22 (C) any other committee of Congress of 

23 appropriate jurisdiction. 

24 (2) CONTENT.—Each report under this sub25 section shall include— 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•S 2695 IS

1 (A) a statement of the effectiveness of the 

2 Federal research public access policy in pro3 viding the public with free online access to pa4 pers on research funded by the Federal agency; 

5 (B) a list of papers published in peer-re6 viewed journals that report on research funded 

7 by the Federal agency; 

8 (C) a corresponding list of papers made 

9 available by the Federal agency as a result of 

10 the Federal research public access policy; and 

11 (D) a summary of the periods of time be12 tween public availability of each paper in a 

13 journal and in the online repository of the Fed14 eral agency. 

15 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Federal agen16 cy shall make the statement under paragraph (2)(A) 

17 and the lists of papers under subparagraphs (B) and 

18 (C) of paragraph (2) available to the public by post19 ing such statement and lists on the website of the 

20 Federal agency. 

Æ 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS