I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5037 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2010 

Mr. DOYLE (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BOUCHER, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. ROHRABACHER, and Mr. HARPER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Federal Government funds basic and 

2 applied research with the expectation that new ideas 

3 and discoveries that result from the research, if 

4 shared and effectively disseminated, will advance 

5 science and improve the lives and welfare of people 

6 of the United States and around the world; and 

7 (2) the Internet makes it possible for this infor8 mation to be promptly available to every scientist, 

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

10 or in a library. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

12 In this Act the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex13 ecutive agency defined under section 105 of title 5, United 

14 States Code. 

15 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 

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

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

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

19 shall develop a Federal research public access policy that 

20 is consistent with and advances purposes of the Federal 

21 agency. 

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

23 policy shall provide for— 

24 (1) submission to the Federal agency of an elec25 tronic version of the author’s final manuscript of 


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1 original research papers that have been accepted for 

2 publication in peer-reviewed journals and result from 

3 research supported, in whole or in part, from fund4 ing by the Federal Government; 

5 (2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 

6 from the peer review publication process in the 

7 manuscript described under paragraph (1); 

8 (3) the replacement of the final manuscript 

9 with the final published version if— 

10 (A) the publisher consents to the replace11 ment; and 

12 (B) the goals of the Federal agency for 

13 functionality and interoperability are retained; 

14 (4) free online public access to such final peer15 reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon 

16 as practicable, but not later than 6 months after 

17 publication in peer-reviewed journals; 

18 (5) production of an online bibliography of all 

19 research papers that are publicly accessible under 

20 the policy, with each entry linking to the cor21 responding free online full text; and 

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

23 access to, published research findings— 

24 (A) in a stable digital repository main25 tained by the Federal agency; or 


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1 (B) if consistent with the purposes of the 

2 Federal agency, in any repository meeting con3 ditions determined favorable by the Federal 

4 agency, including free public access, interoper5 ability, and long-term preservation. 

6 (c) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal re7 search public access policy shall— 

8 (1) apply to— 

9 (A) researchers employed by the Federal 

10 agency whose works remain in the public do11 main; and 

12 (B) researchers funded by the Federal 

13 agency; 

14 (2) provide that works described under para15 graph (1)(A) shall be— 

16 (A) marked as being public domain mate17 rial when published; and 

18 (B) made immediately available under sub19 section (b)(4); and 

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

21 relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern22 ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub23 lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 

24 for Federal purposes. 


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1 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac2 cess policy shall not apply to— 

3 (1) research progress reports presented at pro4 fessional meetings or conferences; 

5 (2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 

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

7 used to produce final manuscripts; 

8 (3) classified research, research resulting in 

9 works that generate revenue or royalties for authors 

10 (such as books) or patentable discoveries, to the ex11 tent necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 

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

13 journal or works that are rejected by journals. 

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

15 Act shall be construed to affect any right under the provi16 sions of title 17 or 35, United States Code. 

17 (f) REPORT.— 

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

19 each year, the head of each Federal agency shall 

20 submit a report on the Federal research public ac21 cess policy of that agency to— 

22 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov2 ernment Reform of the House of Representa3 tives; 

4 (C) the Committee on Science and Tech5 nology of the House of Representatives; 

6 (D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

7 and Transportation of the Senate; 

8 (E) the Committee on Health, Education, 

9 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

10 (F) any other committee of Congress of 

11 appropriate jurisdiction. 

12 (2) CONTENT.—Each report under this sub13 section shall include— 

14 (A) a statement of the effectiveness of the 

15 Federal research public access policy in pro16 viding the public with free online access to pa17 pers on research funded by the Federal agency; 

18 (B) a list of papers published in peer-re19 viewed journals that report on research funded 

20 by the Federal agency; 

21 (C) a corresponding list of papers made 

22 available by the Federal agency as a result of 

23 the Federal research public access policy; and 

24 (D) a summary of the periods of time be25 tween public availability of each paper in a 


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1 journal and in the online repository of the Fed2 eral agency. 

3 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Federal agen4 cy shall make the statement under paragraph (2)(A) 

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

6 (C) of paragraph (2) available to the public by post7 ing such statement and lists on the Web site of the 

8 Federal agency. 

Æ 


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