I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5253 
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 
MAY 6, 2010 
Mr. TIAHRT 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 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Federal Government funds basic and 
applied research with the expectation that new ideas 
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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. 
In this Act the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ means an Ex-
ecutive agency defined under section 105 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RESEARCH PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 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 access 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 
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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-
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ditions determined favorable by the Federal 
agency, including free public access, interoper-
ability, and long-term preservation. 
(c) APPLICATION
OF POLICY.—Each Federal re-
search public access policy shall— 
(1) apply to— 
(A) researchers employed by the Federal 
agency whose works remain in the public do-
main; and 
(B) researchers funded by the Federal 
agency; 
(2) provide that works described under para-
graph (1)(A) shall be— 
(A) marked as being public domain mate-
rial when published; and 
(B) made immediately available under sub-
section (b)(4); and 
(3) make effective use of any law or guidance 
relating to the creation and reservation of a Govern-
ment license that provides for the reproduction, pub-
lication, release, or other uses of a final manuscript 
for Federal purposes. 
(d) EXCLUSIONS.—Each Federal research public ac-
cess policy shall not apply to— 
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(1) research progress reports presented at pro-
fessional meetings or conferences; 
(2) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 
notes of the author, phone logs, or other information 
used to produce final manuscripts; 
(3) classified research, research resulting in 
works that generate revenue or royalties for authors 
(such as books) or patentable discoveries, to the ex-
tent necessary to protect a copyright or patent; or 
(4) authors who do not submit their work to a 
journal or works that are rejected by journals. 
(e) PATENT OR COPYRIGHT LAW.—Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to affect any right under the provi-
sions of title 17 or 35, United States Code. 
(f) REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, of 
each year, the head of each Federal agency shall 
submit a report on the Federal research public ac-
cess policy of that agency to— 
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Gov-
ernment Reform of the House of Representa-
tives; 
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(C) the Committee on Science and Tech-
nology of the House of Representatives; 
(D) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate; 
(E) the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 
(F) any other committee of Congress of 
appropriate jurisdiction. 
(2) CONTENT.—Each report under this sub-
section shall include— 
(A) a statement of the effectiveness of the 
Federal research public access policy in pro-
viding the public with free online access to pa-
pers on research funded by the Federal agency; 
(B) a list of papers published in peer-re-
viewed journals that report on research funded 
by the Federal agency; 
(C) a corresponding list of papers made 
available by the Federal agency as a result of 
the Federal research public access policy; and 
(D) a summary of the periods of time be-
tween public availability of each paper in a 
journal and in the online repository of the Fed-
eral agency. 
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(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Federal agen-
cy shall make the statement under paragraph (2)(A) 
and the lists of papers under subparagraphs (B) and 
(C) of paragraph (2) available to the public by post-
ing such statement and lists on the Web site of the 
Federal agency. 
Æ 
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