- Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act
- Taxpayer Access to Research
- White House Request for Information
- National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy
- Federal Research Public Access Act
- Opposition
- Advocacy Organization Mandates
- Policies outside the U.S.
Issues
Federal Research Public Access Act
act now
more you can do
1) Contact Congress now to express your support for public access to taxpayer-funded research and for this bill. Act now through the ATA Legislative Action Center.
2) Issue a public statement of support from your organization and share it widely with members, colleagues, and the media. Send a copy to sparc [at] arl [dot] org to be featured here.
3) Join the Alliance to support the continued advancement of public access to research in the U.S. Institutional membership is FREE.
4) Share news with friends and colleagues.
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5) Add this image to your Web site and show your support for taxpayer access to federally funded research:
6) Explore our Issue pages for time-sensitive calls to contact Congress and express your support
Background
Every year, the federal government funds tens of billions of dollars in basic and applied research. Most of this funding is concentrated within 11 departments/agencies (e.g., National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy). The research results typically are reported in articles published in a wide variety of academic journals. From NIH funding alone, it is estimated that about 65,000 papers are published each year. The Federal Research Public Access Act proposes to make manuscripts reporting on federally funded research publicly available within six months of publication in a journal. See "Resources" for more information.
Current Status
Yoder Promotes Open Access to Tax-Funded ResearchOct 25, 2012Tim Carpenter, The Topeka Capital-Journal, October 24, 2012
Sign the White House Petition on Open Access to Research Today!May 21, 2012We now have a brief, critical window of opportunity to demonstrate that we as a community firmly believe should be a high priority for the Administration to act on right now. To help accomplish this, today, May 21st, a petition calling for Public Access to all Federally Funded Research has been posted to the White House's "We the People" Website. If the petition garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, it will be reviewed by White House staff, and considered for action.
CU Leaders Back Bill that Would Increase Access to Academic JournalsMay 7, 2012
Brittany Anas, Times Call, May 6, 2012
University of Colorado leaders are advocating for a legislative bill that, if passed by Congress, would make academic journals -- which have been soaring in cost -- more accessible.
Reps. Issa and Maloney Issue Statement on RWAFeb 29, 2012"The American people deserve to have access to research for which they have paid. This conversation needs to continue and we have come to the conclusion that the Research Works Act has exhausted the useful role it can play in the debate. As such, we want Americans concerned about access to research and other participants in this debate to know we will not be taking legislative action on HR 3699, the Research Works Act."
Next Steps in Public Access: Tell your Representatives to Support FRPAAFeb 29, 2012While the RWA and its damaging implications is no longer an immediate threat, action is still needed to cement stronger footing for public access on Capitol Hill. Education on and support for The Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) is now more important than ever.
Legislation to Bar Public-Access Requirement on Federal Research Is DeadFeb 27, 2012Jennifer Howard, The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 27, 2012
Values and ScholarshipFeb 23, 2012Inside Higher Ed article from 11 University Provosts supporting FRPAA and against Research Works Act.
AAU-APLU Support FRPAA: Letter to CornynFeb 21, 2012The Association of American Universities and The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities write to Senator Cornyn to thank him for the introduction of FRPAA S. 2096 and to support the bill.
Ten Organizations Support FRPAA: Letter to Rep. DoyleFeb 15, 2012Ten national and regional library, publishing, research and advocacy institutions write to Rep. Doyle to thank him for the introduction of FRPAA H.R. 4004.
Ten Organizations Support FRPAA: Letter to Sen. CornynFeb 14, 2012Ten national and regional library, publishing, research and advocacy institutions write to Senator Cornyn to thank him for the introduction of FRPAA S. 2096.
Rep. Doyle's Letter to the Speaker about FRPAAFeb 13, 2012
Lawmakers Reintroduce Public Access BillFeb 10, 2012
The Other Academic Freedom MovementFeb 10, 2012
Open Science Revolt Occupies CongressFeb 10, 2012
Thank FRPAA's introducing co-sponsorsFeb 10, 2012
Federal Research Public Access Act 2012 FAQFeb 9, 2012
Federal Research Public Access Act 2012 BillFeb 9, 2012
Call to action: Tell Congress you support the Bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (H.R. 4004 and S. 2096)Feb 9, 2012Today a suite of bi-partisan co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), a bill that would extend the highly successful NIH Public Access Policy to all other federal science agencies. Take action now to support this bill!
FRPAA Introduced in House and Senate: Bipartisan measure supports public access to researchFeb 9, 2012In a move that signals the growing momentum toward openness, transparency, and accessibility to publicly funded information, the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 (FRPAA) has been introduced today in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
As COMPETES Act Is Signed into Law, 'Wait-and-See' Is the Attitude on Further OA LegislationJan 24, 2011
Costello does the right thingNov 16, 2010from the Southern Illinoisan, letter to the editor by David Carlson, Dean of Library Affairs, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
ACT BY OCTOBER 1 to let Congress know you support the Federal Research Public Access ActSep 15, 2010All supporters of public access – universities and colleges, researchers, libraries, campus administrators, patient advocates, publishers, small businesses, consumers, individuals, and others – are asked to call on your representatives to co-sponsor H.R.5037 or S.1373 BEFORE OCTOBER 1. Talking points are included below.
House Hears New Open Access FightAug 6, 2010
Free Access to U.S. Research Papers Could Yield $1 Billion in BenefitsAug 6, 2010From Science Magazine
NEW STUDY EXAMINES THE ECONOMIC RETURNS OF PUBLIC ACCESS POLICIESAug 4, 2010Delivering timely, open, online access to the results of federally funded research in the United States will significantly increase the return on the public’s investment in science, according to a new study by John Houghton at the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University. The study, “The Economic and Social Returns on Investment in Open Archiving Publicly Funded Research Outputs,” co-authored by Bruce Rasmussen and Peter Sheehan, was released today by SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).
Publisher argues free access to research violates administration's transparency initiativeAug 2, 2010by Aliya Sternstein
House Hearing Explores Debate Over Free Access to Journal ArticlesAug 2, 2010by Jocelyn Kaiser
Lawmakers Hear Arguments for and Against Open Access to ResearchJul 30, 2010by Jennifer Howard
The Backroad Librarian: Five ForwardsJul 2, 2010By Marcel LaFlamme
Keeping rural libraries vital requires keeping them free of charge and pushing for open access to materials. Libraries are people-centers, not warehouses for books.
Keeping rural libraries vital requires keeping them free of charge and pushing for open access to materials. Libraries are people-centers, not warehouses for books.
You deserve access to researchMay 21, 2010by David Carlson, Southern Illinoisan
Stanford supports bill for public access to researchMay 11, 2010by An Le Nguyen, The Stanford Daily
MAJOR RESEARCH INSTITUTION LEADERS SUPPORT LEGISLATION TO ENSURE PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLICLY FUNDED RESEARCHMay 3, 2010The provosts and presidents of 27 major private and public research institutions have voiced their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act in an “Open Letter to the Higher Education Community,” released Friday by the Harvard University Provost. The Act, first introduced in the Senate last year, was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 15. The letter signals expanded support for public access to publicly funded research among the largest research institutions in the U.S.
Federal Research Access Bill Making Progress in CongressApr 22, 2010By Josh Hadro, Library Journal
Press conference: Congressman Doyle to address new bill to unlock U.S. $60 billion investment in researchApr 21, 2010
FRPAA's back!Apr 20, 2010By Bob Grant, from The Scientist
FRPAA - another small step for mankind?Apr 20, 2010A letter of support for the FRPAA bill from the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development, April 20th 2010
A Bill to Make Federal Research Available OnlineApr 19, 2010By Cecilia King, The Washington Post
House bill would open up taxpayer-funded researchApr 19, 2010By Kim Hart, The Hill
U.S. Congress Moves On Open Public Access BillApr 19, 2010By Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly
House Bill Proposes a Federal Open-Access PolicyApr 19, 2010From GenomeWeb Daily News
Lieberman’s Open Access Bill Gets Some CompanyApr 18, 2010By David Bruggeman
Federal Research Public Access Act introduced in US House of RepresentativesApr 16, 2010From KnowledgeSpeak
Call to action: Tell Congress you support the Federal Research Public Access ActApr 16, 2010Yesterday (April 15), Representatives Doyle (D-PA), Waxman (D-CA), Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL), Harper (R-MS), Boucher (D-VA) and Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (HR 5037), a bill that would ensure free, timely, online access to the published results of research funded by eleven U.S. federal agencies.All supporters of public access – universities and colleges, researchers, libraries, campus administrators, patient advocates, publishers, consumers, individuals, and others – are asked to ACT NOW to support this bill.
STM publishers sounded like the health insurance companiesApr 15, 2010By John N. Berry III, from Library Journal
Congress takes another stride toward public access to researchApr 15, 2010Fueling the growing momentum toward openness, transparency, and accessibility to publicly funded information, the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2010 (FRPAA) has been introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and a bi-partisan host of co-sponsors. The proposed bill would build on the success of the first U.S. mandate for public access to the published results of publicly funded research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and require federal agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with online access to research manuscripts stemming from funded research no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Scientists Embrace OpennessApr 9, 2010From Science, by Chelsea Wald
Panel Calls on U.S. Agencies to Require Free Access to Research PapersJan 13, 2010By Jocelyn Kaiser - Science Insider
White House Signals Interest in Open Access with Public Call for CommentsDec 17, 2009Josh Hadro - Library Journal
NEW ENGLAND UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS BACK BILL FOR PUBLIC ACCESSNov 23, 2009The Presidents of six public universities in New England have issued a letter of support for the Federal Research Public Access Act (S.1373), demonstrating that commitment to public access to publicly funded research resides at the top-most level of research institution administration. Together, these six land-grant universities enroll over 100,000 students, confer ~17% of the bachelor’s and 20% of the doctoral degrees in New England, and invest more than $700 million annually on research with the support of federal grants.
Nobel Prize-winning scientists support online access to federally funded research results to spur innovationNov 16, 2009By Heather Joseph
Learning to ShareNov 12, 2009By Zoe Corbyn & Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education
Nobel Prize Winning Scientists Say Federally Funded Research Should Be Available Free OnlineNov 11, 2009By Mike Masnick,TechDirt
Open access bill stalls in CongressOct 8, 2009Posted by Bob Grant, at The Scientist
Open Letter on Open AccessSep 23, 2009Inside Higher Ed. September 23, 2009
57 College Presidents Declare Support for Legislation to Ensure Public Access to Publicly Funded Research in the U.S.Sep 23, 2009The Presidents of 57 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., representing 22 states, have declared their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 1373) in an Open Letter released today. The letter is the first from higher education administrators to be issued in support of the 2009 bill, and further reinforcement that support for the Act exists at the highest levels of the higher education community. The presidents’ letter notes, “Adoption of the Federal Research Public Access Act will democratize access to research information funded by tax dollars. It will benefit of education, research, and the general public.”
University of California Academic Council adopted a support position at its July meeting [PDF]Sep 22, 2009
ALA calls FRPAA "key issue"Sep 11, 2009By Peter Suber, from Open Access News
Statement of Support from IssueLab on FRPAASep 4, 2009
ATA encourages Senators to co-sponsor FRPAAJul 28, 2009
OXFAM America supports FRPAA [PDF]Jul 28, 2009
Essential Action supports FRPAA [PDF]Jul 28, 2009
IP Justice (IPJ) supports FRPAA [PDF]Jul 28, 2009
Harvard University Provost supports FRPAAJul 16, 2009The following letter in support of Senate bill S.1373 was sent to the senators representing Harvard University, with similar letters to the sponsoring senators and the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee.
Frequently Asked Questions (S.1373)Jul 9, 2009
Bill Overview (S.1373) [PDF]Jul 9, 2009
Summary (S1373)Jul 9, 2009
Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) Reintroduced in SenateJul 2, 2009by Andrew Richard Albanese, Library Journal
View the long list of supporters from 2006Jun 25, 2009
Text of the bill (S.1373)Jun 25, 2009
Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to federal research resultsJun 25, 2009Federal Research Public Access Act introduced today
