II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1701 

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 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) 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 ‘‘Fair Access to Science 

5 and Technology Research Act of 2017’’. 

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 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1701 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; 

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 (3) the United States has a substantial interest 

10 in maximizing the impact and utility of the research 

11 it funds by enabling a wide range of reuses of the 

12 peer-reviewed literature that reports the results of 

13 such research, including by enabling computational 

14 analysis by state-of-the-art technologies; 

15 (4) the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

16 issued a policy memorandum dated February 22, 

17 2013, which established the commitment of the exec18 utive branch of the Federal Government to ensuring 

19 that ‘‘the direct results of Federally funded scientific 

20 research are made available to and useful for the 

21 public, industry, and the scientific community’’; and 

22 (5) the executive branch advises that such pub23 lic access should be implemented ‘‘with the fewest 

24 constraints possible’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1701 IS

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex3 ecutive agency, as defined under section 105 of title 5, 

4 United States Code. 

5 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP POLICY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal 

9 agency with annual extramural research expendi10 tures of over $100,000,000 shall develop a Federal 

11 research public access policy that is consistent with 

12 and advances the purposes of the Federal agency. 

13 (2) COMMON PROCEDURES.—To the extent 

14 practicable, Federal agencies required to develop a 

15 policy under paragraph (1) shall follow common pro16 cedures for the collection and depositing of research 

17 papers. 

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

19 policy shall provide for— 

20 (1) submission to a digital repository des21 ignated or maintained by the Federal agency of an 

22 electronic version of the author’s final manuscript of 

23 original research papers that have been accepted for 

24 publication in peer-reviewed journals and that result 

25 from research supported, in whole or in part, from 

26 funding by the Federal Government; 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1701 IS

1 (2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 

2 from the peer review publication process in the 

3 manuscript described under paragraph (1); 

4 (3) the replacement of the final manuscript 

5 with the final published version if— 

6 (A) the publisher consents to the replace7 ment; and 

8 (B) the goals of the Federal agency for 

9 functionality and interoperability are retained; 

10 (4) free online public access to such final peer11 reviewed manuscripts or published versions within a 

12 time period that is appropriate for each type of re13 search conducted or sponsored by the Federal agen14 cy, not later than 12 months after publication in 

15 peer-reviewed journals, preferably sooner, or as ad16 justed under established mechanisms; 

17 (5) a means, using established mechanisms for 

18 making requests to the applicable Federal agency, 

19 for members of the public and other stakeholders to 

20 request to adjust the period before such a final peer21 reviewed manuscript or published version is made 

22 publicly available by presenting evidence dem23 onstrating that the period is inconsistent with the 

24 objectives of the Federal research public access polVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:17 Aug 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1701.IS S1701

asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1701 IS

1 icy or the needs of the public, industry, or the sci2 entific community; 

3 (6) providing research papers as described in 

4 paragraph (4) in formats and under terms that en5 able productive reuse of the research and computa6 tional analysis by state-of-the-art technologies; 

7 (7) improving the ability of the public to locate 

8 and access research papers made accessible under 

9 the Federal research public access policy; and 

10 (8) long-term preservation of, and free public 

11 access to, published research findings— 

12 (A) in a stable digital repository main13 tained by the Federal agency; or 

14 (B) if consistent with the purposes of the 

15 Federal agency, in any repository meeting con16 ditions determined favorable by the Federal 

17 agency (including free public access), interoper18 ability, and long-term preservation. 

19 (c) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal re20 search public access policy shall— 

21 (1) apply to— 

22 (A) researchers employed by the Federal 

23 agency whose works remain in the public do24 main; and 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1701 IS

1 (B) researchers funded by the Federal 

2 agency; 

3 (2) provide that works described under para4 graph (1)(A) shall be— 

5 (A) marked as being public domain mate6 rial when published; and 

7 (B) made available at the same time such 

8 works are made available under subsection 

9 (b)(4); and 

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

11 relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern12 ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub13 lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 

14 for Federal purposes. 

15 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac16 cess policy shall not apply to— 

17 (1) research progress reports presented at pro18 fessional meetings or conferences; 

19 (2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 

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

21 used to produce final manuscripts; 

22 (3) classified research, research resulting in 

23 works that generate revenue or royalties for authors 

24 (such as books) or patentable discoveries, to the ex25 tent necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1701 IS

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

2 journal or works that are rejected by journals. 

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

4 Act shall be construed to affect any right under the provi5 sions of title 17 or 35, United States Code. 

6 (f) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years there8 after, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

9 submit to Congress a report that— 

10 (1) includes an analysis of the period between 

11 the date on which each paper becomes publicly avail12 able in a journal and the date on which the paper 

13 is in the online repository of the applicable Federal 

14 agency; and 

15 (2) examines the effectiveness of the Federal re16 search public access policy in providing the public 

17 with free online access to papers on research funded 

18 by each Federal agency required to develop a policy 

19 under subsection (a)(1), including— 

20 (A) whether the terms of use applicable to 

21 such research papers in effect are effective in 

22 enabling productive reuse of the research and 

23 computational analysis by state-of-the-art tech24 nologies; and 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1701 IS

1 (B) examines whether such research pa2 pers should include a royalty-free copyright li3 cense that is available to the public and that 

4 permits the reuse of those research papers, on 

5 the condition that attribution is given to the au6 thor or authors of the research and any others 

7 designated by the copyright owner. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS