I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4004 
To provide for Federal agencies to develop public access policies relating 
to research conducted by employees of that agency or from funds admin-
istered by that agency. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2012 
Mr. DOYLE (for himself, Mr. YODER, and Mr. CLAY) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Research Pub-
lic Access Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Federal Government funds basic and 
applied research with the expectation that new ideas 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
07:14 Feb 10, 2012
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4004.IH
H4004
pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
and discoveries that result from the research, if 
shared and effectively disseminated, will advance 
science and improve the lives and welfare of people 
of the United States and around the world; and 
(2) the Internet makes it possible for this infor-
mation to be promptly available to every scientist, 
physician, educator, and citizen at home, in school, 
or in a library. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AGENCY. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex-
ecutive agency as defined under section 105 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal agency 
with 
extramural 
research 
expenditures 
of 
over 
$100,000,000 shall develop a Federal research public ac-
cess policy that is consistent with and advances purposes 
of the Federal agency. 
(b) CONTENT.—Each Federal research public access 
policy shall provide for— 
(1) submission to the Federal agency of an elec-
tronic version of the author’s final manuscript of 
original research papers that have been accepted for 
publication in peer-reviewed journals and result from 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
07:14 Feb 10, 2012
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4004.IH
H4004
pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
research supported, in whole or in part, from fund-
ing by the Federal Government; 
(2) the incorporation of all changes resulting 
from the peer review publication process in the 
manuscript described under paragraph (1); 
(3) the replacement of the final manuscript 
with the final published version if— 
(A) the publisher consents to the replace-
ment; and 
(B) the goals of the Federal agency for 
functionality and interoperability are retained; 
(4) free online public access to such final peer- 
reviewed manuscripts or published versions as soon 
as practicable, but not later than 6 months after 
publication in peer-reviewed journals; 
(5) production of an online bibliography of all 
research papers that are publicly accessible under 
the policy, with each entry linking to the cor-
responding free online full text; and 
(6) long-term preservation of, and free public 
access to, published research findings— 
(A) in a stable digital repository main-
tained by the Federal agency; or 
(B) if consistent with the purposes of the 
Federal agency, in any repository meeting con-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
07:14 Feb 10, 2012
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4004.IH
H4004
pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS