I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9009 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the transparency of 
the process of the National Library of Medicine in listing and delisting 
journals in MEDLINE (or any other current or successor databases 
or indices), and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 17, 2020 
Mr. GOSAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the 
transparency of the process of the National Library of 
Medicine in listing and delisting journals in MEDLINE 
(or any other current or successor databases or indices), 
and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Literature Selection 
Technical Review Committee Reform Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. JOURNAL COLLECTION OF NATIONAL LIBRARY OF 
MEDICINE. 
Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
281 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 467 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 286a–1) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 468. JOURNAL COLLECTION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In acquiring, preserving, orga-
nizing, publishing, and disseminating journals through the 
National Library of Medicine, including through the Lit-
erature Selection Technical Review Committee (or any 
successor committee) and MEDLINE (or any other cur-
rent or successor databases or indices), the Secretary shall 
comply with the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(b) SCORING RUBRIC.— 
‘‘(1) SPECIFICATION
OF
METRICS.—The Sec-
retary shall specify and make publicly available the 
metrics pursuant to which the Library lists and 
delists journals in the Library’s collections, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(A) the quality and importance metrics 
used; 
‘‘(B) the ethics policies metrics; and 
‘‘(C) the methodology for calculating a 
journal’s overall rating. 
‘‘(2) INITIAL
SPECIFICATION.—The Secretary 
shall comply with paragraph (1) beginning not later 
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than 60 days after the date of enactment of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(c) ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPER-
TISE.—Regarding the members of the Literature Selection 
Technical Review Committee (and any successor com-
mittee): 
‘‘(1) INDEPENDENCE.—The Secretary shall ap-
point the members without regard to political affili-
ation or political campaign activity. 
‘‘(2) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) not less than annually, solicit nomina-
tions for potential members; and 
‘‘(B) before making an appointment— 
‘‘(i) provide a publicly accessible 
mechanism for interested persons to com-
ment on the potential member; and 
‘‘(ii) take such comments into consid-
eration. 
‘‘(d) DELISTING PROCESS.— 
‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—Before delisting a journal 
from MEDLINE (or any other current or successor 
databases or indices), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) notify the journal of the Secretary’s 
intention to refer the journal to the Literature 
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Selection Technical Review Committee (or any 
successor committee) for review; and 
‘‘(B) give the journal a period of 60 days, 
beginning on the date of such notification, to 
respond to the concerns forming the basis for 
the referral to the Literature Selection Tech-
nical Review Committee (or any successor com-
mittee) for review. 
‘‘(2) CONCERNS NOT RESOLVED.— 
‘‘(A) PROCESS.—If a journal fails during 
the 60-day period described in paragraph 
(1)(B) to resolve to the Secretary’s satisfaction 
the concerns forming the basis for the referral 
to the Literature Selection Technical Review 
Committee (or any successor committee) for re-
view, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) provide a detailed explanation to 
the journal of the initial concerns and why 
the journal has not satisfactorily resolved 
these concerns; and 
‘‘(ii) after providing such explanation, 
issue a decision referring the journal to the 
Literature 
Selection 
Technical 
Review 
Committee (or a successor committee) for 
review. 
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