II 

Calendar No. 384 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 779 

[Report No. 114–224] 

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 

MARCH 18, 2015 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

MARCH 8, 2016 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Access to Science 

3 and Technology Research Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the Federal Government funds basic and 

7 applied research with the expectation that new ideas 

8 and discoveries that result from the research, if 

9 shared and effectively disseminated, will advance 

10 science and improve the lives and welfare of people 

11 of the United States and around the world; 

12 (2) the Internet makes it possible for this infor13 mation to be promptly available to every scientist, 

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

15 or in a library; and 

16 (3) the United States has a substantial interest 

17 in maximizing the impact and utility of the research 

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

19 peer-reviewed literature that reports the results of 

20 such research, including by enabling computational 

21 analysis by state-of-the-art technologies. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 

23 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex24 ecutive agency, as defined under section 105 of title 5, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP POLICY.— 

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

4 the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal 

5 agency with extramural research expenditures of 

6 over $100,000,000 shall develop a Federal research 

7 public access policy that is consistent with and ad8 vances the purposes of the Federal agency. 

9 (2) COMMON PROCEDURES.—To the extent 

10 practicable, Federal agencies required to develop a 

11 policy under paragraph (1) shall follow common pro12 cedures for the collection and depositing of research 

13 papers. 

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

15 policy shall provide for— 

16 (1) submission to the Federal agency of an elec17 tronic version of the author’s final manuscript of 

18 original research papers that have been accepted for 

19 publication in peer-reviewed journals and that result 

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

21 funding by the Federal Government; 

22 (2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 

23 from the peer review publication process in the 

24 manuscript described under paragraph (1); 

25 (3) the replacement of the final manuscript 

26 with the final published version if— 


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1 (A) the publisher consents to the replace2 ment; and 

3 (B) the goals of the Federal agency for 

4 functionality and interoperability are retained; 

5 (4) free online public access to such final peer6 reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon 

7 as practicable, but not later than 6 months after 

8 publication in peer-reviewed journals; 

9 (5) providing research papers as described in 

10 paragraph (4) in formats and under terms that en11 able productive reuse, including computational anal12 ysis by state-of-the-art technologies; 

13 (6) production of an online bibliography of all 

14 research papers that are publicly accessible under 

15 the policy, with each entry linking to the cor16 responding free online full text; and 

17 (7) long-term preservation of, and free public 

18 access to, published research findings— 

19 (A) in a stable digital repository main20 tained by the Federal agency; or 

21 (B) if consistent with the purposes of the 

22 Federal agency, in any repository meeting con23 ditions determined favorable by the Federal 

24 agency, including free public access, interoper25 ability, and long-term preservation. 


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1 (c) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal re2 search public access policy shall— 

3 (1) apply to— 

4 (A) researchers employed by the Federal 

5 agency whose works remain in the public do6 main; and 

7 (B) researchers funded by the Federal 

8 agency; 

9 (2) provide that works described under para10 graph (1)(A) shall be— 

11 (A) marked as being public domain mate12 rial when published; and 

13 (B) made available at the same time such 

14 works are made available under subsection 

15 (b)(4); and 

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

17 relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern18 ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub19 lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 

20 for Federal purposes. 

21 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac22 cess policy shall not apply to— 

23 (1) research progress reports presented at pro24 fessional meetings or conferences; 


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1 (2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 

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

3 used to produce final manuscripts; 

4 (3) 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 (4) 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 Federal agency to— 

18 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

19 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov21 ernment Reform of the House of Representa22 tives; 

23 (C) the Committee on Science and Tech24 nology of the House of Representatives; 


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1 (D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate; 

3 (E) the Committee on Health, Education, 

4 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

5 (F) any other committee of Congress of 

6 appropriate jurisdiction. 

7 (2) CONTENT.—Each report under this sub8 section shall include— 

9 (A) a statement of the effectiveness of the 

10 Federal research public access policy in pro11 viding the public with free online access to pa12 pers on research funded by the Federal agency; 

13 (B) the results of a study by the Federal 

14 agency of the terms of use applicable to the re15 search papers described in subsection (b)(4), in16 cluding— 

17 (i) a statement of whether the terms 

18 of use applicable to such research papers 

19 are effective in enabling productive reuse 

20 and computational analysis by state-of-the21 art technologies; and 

22 (ii) an examination of whether such 

23 research papers should include a royalty24 free copyright license that is available to 

25 the public and that permits the reuse of 


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1 those research papers, on the condition 

2 that attribution is given to the author or 

3 authors of the research and any others 

4 designated by the copyright owner; 

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

7 by the Federal agency; 

8 (D) 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 (E) 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.—A Federal agency 

16 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. 

21 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Access to Science 

23 and Technology Research Act of 2015’’. 

24 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

25 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Federal Government funds basic and ap2 plied research with the expectation that new ideas 

3 and discoveries that result from the research, if shared 

4 and effectively disseminated, will advance science and 

5 improve the lives and welfare of people of the United 

6 States and around the world; 

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, or 

10 in a library; 

11 (3) the United States has a substantial interest 

12 in maximizing the impact and utility of the research 

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

14 peer-reviewed literature that reports the results of 

15 such research, including by enabling computational 

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

17 (4) the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

18 issued a policy memorandum dated February 22, 

19 2013, which established the commitment of the execu20 tive branch of the Federal Government to ensuring 

21 that ‘‘the direct results of Federally funded scientific 

22 research are made available to and useful for the pub23 lic, industry, and the scientific community’’; and 


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1 (5) the executive branch advises that such public 

2 access should be implemented ‘‘with the fewest con3 straints possible’’. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Exec6 utive agency, as defined under section 105 of title 5, United 

7 States Code. 

8 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP POLICY.— 

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

11 the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal agency 

12 with annual extramural research expenditures of over 

13 $100,000,000 shall develop a Federal research public 

14 access policy that is consistent with and advances the 

15 purposes of the Federal agency. 

16 (2) COMMON PROCEDURES.—To the extent prac17 ticable, Federal agencies required to develop a policy 

18 under paragraph (1) shall follow common procedures 

19 for the collection and depositing of research papers. 

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

21 policy shall provide for— 

22 (1) submission to a digital repository designated 

23 or maintained by the Federal agency of an electronic 

24 version of the author’s final manuscript of original 

25 research papers that have been accepted for publicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:47 Mar 08, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S779.RS S779

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1 tion in peer-reviewed journals and that result from 

2 research supported, in whole or in part, from funding 

3 by the Federal Government; 

4 (2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 

5 from the peer review publication process in the manu6 script described under paragraph (1); 

7 (3) the replacement of the final manuscript with 

8 the final published version if— 

9 (A) the publisher consents to the replace10 ment; and 

11 (B) the goals of the Federal agency for 

12 functionality and interoperability are retained; 

13 (4) free online public access to such final peer14 reviewed manuscripts or published versions within a 

15 time period that is appropriate for each type of re16 search conducted or sponsored by the Federal agency, 

17 not later than 12 months after publication in peer18 reviewed journals, preferably sooner, or as adjusted 

19 under established mechanisms; 

20 (5) a means, using established mechanisms for 

21 making requests to the applicable Federal agency, for 

22 members of the public and other stakeholders to re23 quest to adjust the period before such a final peer-re24 viewed manuscript or published version is made pub25 licly available by presenting evidence demonstrating 


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1 that the period is inconsistent with the objectives of 

2 the Federal research public access policy or the needs 

3 of the public, industry, or the scientific community; 

4 (6) providing research papers as described in 

5 paragraph (4) in formats and under terms that en6 able productive reuse of the research and computa7 tional analysis by state-of-the-art technologies; 

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

9 and access research papers made accessible under the 

10 Federal research public access policy; and 

11 (8) long-term preservation of, and free public ac12 cess to, published research findings— 

13 (A) in a stable digital repository main14 tained by the Federal agency; or 

15 (B) if consistent with the purposes of the 

16 Federal agency, in any repository meeting condi17 tions determined favorable by the Federal agen18 cy, including free public access, interoperability, 

19 and long-term preservation. 

20 (c) APPLICATION OF POLICY.—Each Federal research 

21 public access policy shall— 

22 (1) apply to— 

23 (A) researchers employed by the Federal 

24 agency whose works remain in the public do25 main; and 


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1 (B) researchers funded by the Federal agen2 cy; 

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 re11 lating to the creation and reservation of a Govern12 ment license that provides for the reproduction, publi13 cation, release, or other uses of a final manuscript for 

14 Federal purposes. 

15 (d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public access 

16 policy shall not apply to— 

17 (1) research progress reports presented at profes18 sional 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 extent 

25 necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 


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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 Act 

4 shall be construed to affect any right under the provisions 

5 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 thereafter, 

8 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

9 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 is 

13 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 en22 abling productive reuse of the research and com23 putational analysis by state-of-the-art tech24 nologies; and 


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1 (B) examines whether such research papers 

2 should include a royalty-free copyright license 

3 that is available to the public and that permits 

4 the reuse of those research papers, on the condi5 tion that attribution is given to the author or 

6 authors of the research and any others designated 

7 by the copyright owner. 


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Calendar No. 384 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 779 

[Report No. 114–224] 

A BILL 

To provide for Federal agencies to develop public 

tered by that agency. employees of that agency or from funds adminisaccess policies relating to research conducted by 

MARCH 8, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


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