II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2096 

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 

FEBRUARY 9, 2012 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) 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 2012’’. 

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 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2096 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 OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 

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

12 United 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 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2096 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 Mar 15 2010 05:28 Feb 10, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2096.IS S2096

pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2096 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 available at the same time such 

17 works are made available under subsection 

18 (b)(4); and 

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

20 relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern21 ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub22 lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 

23 for Federal purposes. 

24 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac25 cess policy shall not apply to— 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2096 IS

1 (1) research progress reports presented at pro2 fessional meetings or conferences; 

3 (2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 

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

5 used to produce final manuscripts; 

6 (3) classified research, research resulting in 

7 works that generate revenue or royalties for authors 

8 (such as books) or patentable discoveries, to the ex9 tent necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 

10 (4) authors who do not submit their work to a 

11 journal or works that are rejected by journals. 

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

13 Act shall be construed to affect any right under the provi14 sions of title 17 or 35, United States Code. 

15 (f) REPORT.— 

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

17 each year, the head of each Federal agency shall 

18 submit a report on the Federal research public ac19 cess policy of that agency to— 

20 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

22 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov23 ernment Reform of the House of Representa24 tives; 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2096 IS

1 (C) the Committee on Science and Tech2 nology of the House of Representatives; 

3 (D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

4 and Transportation of the Senate; 

5 (E) the Committee on Health, Education, 

6 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

7 (F) any other committee of Congress of 

8 appropriate jurisdiction. 

9 (2) CONTENT.—Each report under this sub10 section shall include— 

11 (A) a statement of the effectiveness of the 

12 Federal research public access policy in pro13 viding the public with free online access to pa14 pers on research funded by the Federal agency; 

15 (B) a list of papers published in peer-re16 viewed journals that report on research funded 

17 by the Federal agency; 

18 (C) a corresponding list of papers made 

19 available by the Federal agency as a result of 

20 the Federal research public access policy; and 

21 (D) a summary of the periods of time be22 tween public availability of each paper in a 

23 journal and in the online repository of the Fed24 eral agency. 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2096 IS

1 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Federal agen2 cy shall make the statement under paragraph (2)(A) 

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

4 (C) of paragraph (2) available to the public by post5 ing such statement and lists on the website of the 

6 Federal agency. 

Æ 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS