The Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) is a proposal to require open public access to research funded by eleven U.S. federal government agencies. It was originally proposed by Senators John Cornyn and Joe Lieberman in 2006 and then again in 2010, and then once more in 2012.
A later version of the bill, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act, was introduced in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Provisions of bill
The FRPAA would require that those eleven agencies with research expenditures over $100 million, create online repositories of journal articles of the research completed by that agency and make them publicly available. They must be maintained and preserved by the agency, or another repository that permits free and open access. It must be available to users without charge within six months after it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The agencies included in this bill are:
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Defense
- Department of Education
- Department of Energy
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Transportation
- Environmental Protection Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
Legislative history
Congress | Short title | Bill number(s) | Date introduced | Sponsor(s) | # of cosponsors | Latest status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
109th Congress | Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 | S. 2695 | May 2, 2006 | John Cornyn
(R-TX) |
2 | Died in committee |
111th Congress | Federal Research Public Access Act of 2009 | H.R. 5037 | April 15, 2010 | Mike Doyle
(D-PA) |
16 | Died in committee |
Federal Research Public Access Act of 2010 | H.R. 5253 | May 6, 2010 | Todd Tiahrt
(R-KS) |
0 | Died in committee | |
Federal Research Public Access Act of 2009 | S. 1373 | June 25, 2009 | Joe Lieberman
(I-CT) |
1 | Died in committee | |
112th Congress | Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 | H.R. 4004 | February 9, 2012 | Mike Doyle
(D-PA) |
34 | Died in committee |
S. 2096 | February 9, 2012 | John Cornyn
(R-TX) |
3 | Died in committee |
Reaction
Support
In addition to Senator John Cornyn and Senator Joe Lieberman, Representative Michael F. Doyle, along with Frederick Boucher, Michael Capuano, Jerry Costello, Bill Foster, Barney Frank, Gregg Harper, Paul Hodes, Tim Holden, Dennis Kucinich, Rick Larsen, Zoe Lofgren, Stephen Lynch, Dana Rohrabacher, Fortney Stark, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Henry Waxman have co-sponsored a similar bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5037).
As of July 19, 2010, 120 Higher Education Leaders support this bill.
On March 28, 2012, 52 Nobel Laureates signed an open letter to the US Congress expressing their support for this bill.
Opposition
The Association of American Publishers opposes the bill on behalf of 81 scholarly publishing organizations alleging that the bill forces the same deadline for disciplines in which that deadline is burdensome, limits the options of government-funded researchers, forces a change in publishers' business models, and will create a cost burden on federal agencies.
See also
- Open access mandate
- NIH Public Access Policy
- Fair Copyright in Research Works Act
- Research Works Act
References
- "Federal Research Public Access Act 2006". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
- Kaiser, Jocelyn (10 February 2012). "Lawmakers Reintroduce Public Access Bill". ScienceInsider. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- "S.1701 - Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act of 2017". congress.gov. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- "Bill Text - 111th Congress - S. 1373 - Federal Research Public Access Act of 2009" (PDF).
- "FRPAA FAQ" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
- "H.R. 5037".
- "Higher Ed Leaders Support Public Access, 2009-2010". Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
- "52 Nobel laureates endorse FRPAA". Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
- "The Association of American Publishers". publishers.org. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
Further reading
- As COMPETES Act Is Signed into Law, 'Wait-and-See' Is the Attitude on Further OA Legislation
- NEW ENGLAND UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS BACK BILL FOR PUBLIC ACCESS Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Open Letter on Open Access | Inside Higher Ed
- Scientists Embrace Openness
- Times Higher Education, "Learning to share"
- White House Signals Interest in Open Access with Public Call for Comments