I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1426 
To ensure public access to published materials concerning scientific research 
and development activities funded by Federal science agencies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2015 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology 
A BILL 
To ensure public access to published materials concerning 
scientific research and development activities funded by 
Federal science agencies. 
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 ‘‘Public Access to Public 
Science Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each covered agency shall formu-
late and implement a public access policy to make covered 
works publicly available, without charge, starting on the 
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first day after the end of the embargo period of the cov-
ered work, in a manner consistent with copyright law. 
(b) SPECIFICATIONS.—The public access policy 
shall— 
(1) allow the public to read, download, and ana-
lyze by machine covered works in digital form; 
(2) facilitate easy public search of, analysis of, 
and access to, covered works; 
(3) encourage public-private collaboration to— 
(A) maximize the potential for interoper-
ability between public and private platforms; 
(B) avoid unnecessary duplication of exist-
ing mechanisms; and 
(C) maximize the impact of the covered 
agency’s research investment; 
(4) ensure that attribution to authors, journals, 
and original publishers is maintained; and 
(5) ensure that publications and metadata are 
stored in an archive that— 
(A) provides, whenever appropriate, for 
long-term preservation of, and access to, the 
full content of covered works without charge, 
taking into account the balance of cost and 
public value; 
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(B) uses a standard, widely available, and, 
to the extent possible, nonproprietary archival 
format for text and associated content, includ-
ing images, video, and supporting data; 
(C) provides access for individuals with 
disabilities consistent with section 508 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); 
and 
(D) enables integration and interoper-
ability with other public access repositories. 
(c) METADATA.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 
covered agency’s public access policy shall ensure full pub-
lic access to metadata of covered works without charge 
beginning at the time when the covered work is first pub-
lished in a data format that ensures interoperability with 
current and anticipated future search technology. When-
ever possible, the metadata shall provide a link to the loca-
tion where the full text and associated supplemental mate-
rials will be made available at the end of the applicable 
embargo period. 
SEC. 3. FORMULATION OF PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each public access policy shall in-
clude— 
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(1) a strategy for enabling the public to elec-
tronically locate and access publications resulting 
from federally funded scientific research; 
(2) a strategy for maintaining a repository or 
repositories, either within the covered agency, 
through an arrangement with another Federal agen-
cy or agencies, or through an arrangement with a 
public or private entity, including an arrangement to 
provide free public access in perpetuity, ensure inter-
operability with other technology, and ensure the 
long-term preservation of such research, so long as 
the covered agency maintains an active Web link to 
the repository or repositories for public access; 
(3) a strategy for incorporating existing covered 
works into the repository or repositories required 
under paragraph (2) to the extent practicable; 
(4) a strategy for notifying research funding re-
cipients of their obligations under this Act; and 
(5) a strategy for taking into account different 
funding models for scholarly publishing, including 
author-pays fees, in the covered agency’s grant and 
other funding mechanisms. 
(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGEN-
CIES.—In developing its public access policy, the covered 
agency shall collaborate and coordinate with other Federal 
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agencies to maximize the consistency and compatibility of 
public access across the Federal Government. 
(c) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 
covered agency shall transmit a report, containing its pub-
lic access policy and a description of the mechanism de-
scribed in section 6(a), to the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate. 
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2016, 
a covered agency shall implement its public access policy. 
(b) INPUT.—In implementing such policy and the 
mechanism described in section 6(a), a covered agency 
shall consider input provided by relevant stakeholders and 
other Federal agencies. 
(c) CLARIFICATION.—Nothing in this Act shall affect 
the application of United States copyright law. 
SEC. 5. PERIODIC REVIEW. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not less than once every 5 years, 
each covered agency shall revise, as necessary, its public 
access policy, including the mechanism described in sec-
tion 6(a). 
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(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each covered agency 
shall transmit a report containing its revised public access 
policy and the mechanism described in section 6(a), as re-
vised under subsection (a), to the Committee on Science, 
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate not later than 30 days after com-
pleting such revision. 
SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF EMBARGO PERIOD. 
(a) MECHANISM TO EXTEND EMBARGO PERIOD.— 
Each covered agency, in coordination with relevant stake-
holders, shall provide a mechanism for a stakeholder to 
petition to extend the embargo period for a specific cov-
ered work under this section by presenting evidence that 
the public interest will be substantially and uniquely 
harmed under a covered agency’s public access policy re-
lated to such work. If a covered agency determines that 
the public interest will be substantially and uniquely 
harmed after reviewing the petition, the covered agency 
may extend the embargo period by no more than 6 months 
at a time from its current embargo period. 
(b) AGREEMENT TO SHORTEN EMBARGO PERIOD.— 
A covered agency may shorten the embargo period for a 
specific covered work under this section only to the extent 
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that the shortened embargo period is mutually agreed to 
by the agency and the publisher of the covered work. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means— 
(A) the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration; 
(B) the National Science Foundation; 
(C) the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology; and 
(D) the National Weather Service. 
(2) the term ‘‘covered work’’ means any re-
search results published in a peer-reviewed scholarly 
publication based on research funded in whole or in 
part by a covered agency, but does not include— 
(A) research progress reports presented at 
professional meetings or conferences; 
(B) laboratory notes, preliminary data 
analyses, notes of the author, phone logs, or 
other information used to produce final manu-
scripts; 
(C) classified research; or 
(D) work not submitted to a peer-reviewed 
publication or work that is rejected by a peer- 
reviewed publication; and 
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(3) the term ‘‘embargo period’’ means the pe-
riod of time of no more than 12 months after the 
initial date of publication of a covered work, unless 
such period is modified under section 6. 
Æ 
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