109th Congress

Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006

S. 2695

Background

In its report on the fiscal year 2005 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, the House Committee on Appropriations stated:

"The Committee is very concerned that there is insufficient public access to reports and data resulting from NIH-funded research. This situation, which has been exacerbated by the dramatic rise in scientific journal subscription prices, is contrary to the best interests of the U.S. taxpayers who paid for this research. The Committee is aware of a proposal to make the complete text of articles and supplemental materials generated by NIH-funded research available on PubMed Central (PMC), the digital library maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The Committee supports this proposal and recommends that NIH develop a policy, to apply from FY 2005 forward, requiring that a complete electronic copy of any manuscript reporting work supported by NIH grants or contracts be provided to PMC upon acceptance of the manuscript for publication in any scientific journal listed in the NLM's PubMed directory."

After carefully considering the views of publishers, patient advocates, scientists, university administrators, and others, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) first published its proposed NIH Public Access Policy on September 3, 2004, in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. The final policy, which is voluntary, was published in May 2005.

On May 2, 2006, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 2695, noting that "today marks the one-year anniversary of the implementation of a ground breaking public access policy at NIH developed by Director Elias Zerhouni." He continued, "While Dr. Zerhouni and NIH have made strong progress, Senator Lieberman and I believe more must be done, not only at NIH and in medical research, but throughout the Federal Government and the sciences in general. That is why today we are introducing the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006, legislation that will refine the work done by NIH and require that the Federal Government's leading underwriters of research adopt meaningful public access policies . . . Our bill simply says to all researchers who seek government funding that we want the results of your work to be seen by the largest possible audience. It will ensure that U.S. taxpayers do not have to pay twice for the same research-once to conduct it, and a second time to read it."

Provisions of the Legislation/Impact on NIH

The bill would require every Federal agency with an annual extramural research budget of $100 million or more to implement a public access policy consistent with and advancing the purpose of the agency. The bill would also require each agency to submit an annual report on its Federal research public access policy. Each agency would be required to:

• Require each researcher funded totally or partially by the agency to submit an electronic copy of the final manuscript that has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal
• Ensure that the manuscript is preserved in a stable digital repository maintained by the agency or in another suitable repository that permits free public access, interoperability, and long-term preservation
• Require that free online access to each taxpayer-funded manuscript be available as soon as possible and no later than 6 months after the article has been published in a peer-reviewed journal

Status and Outlook

S. 2695 was introduced by Senator Cornyn on May 2, 2006, and was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security. There are no companion measures in the House. No further action has occurred on this legislation.