FRPAA re-introduced! See: http://bit.ly/iEyJJ
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jennifer McLennan <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 6:34 PM
Subject: [SOAF] Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to
federal research results - Federal Research Public Access Act
introduced today
To: SPARC Open Access Forum <[log in to unmask]>
For immediate release
June 25, 2009
For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org
(202) 296-2296 ext 121
Taxpayer Alliance applauds bill to broaden access to federal research results
Federal Research Public Access Act introduced today
Washington, DC – Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Cornyn
(R-TX) today introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act
(FRPAA), a bill to ensure free, timely, online access to the published
results of research funded by eleven U.S. federal agencies. The
proposed bill is welcomed by the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, a
coalition of research institutions, consumers, patients, and others
formed to support open public access to publicly funded research.
FRPAA would require those agencies with annual extramural research
budgets of $100 million or more to provide the public with online
access to research manuscripts stemming from such funding no later
than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The
bill gives individual agencies flexibility in choosing the location of
the digital repository to house this content, as long as the
repositories meet conditions for interoperability and public
accessibility, and have provisions for long-term archiving.
“Ready access to published research will advance the frontiers of
knowledge more rapidly, bringing the fruits of federal expenditure for
research to citizens more quickly,” said David Shulenburger, Vice
President for Academic Affairs at the Association of Public and
Land-grant Universities. “FRPAA guarantees that access to all –
scientists and citizens alike. This bill balances the public’s right
to access what it has paid for, while preserving the time-tested
institutions on which vetting and distribution of scholarly research
has long relied.”
The bill covers unclassified research funded by agencies including:
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, and the National Science
Foundation.
Sir Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate and Chief Scientific Officer
for New England Biolabs, welcomed the bill, saying, “I support any
measure that will help disseminate the findings of scientific research
in an unimpeded fashion. This bill will provide an important new
resource for scientists in all disciplines to use in innovative ways.
It acknowledges the new reality of how science is conducted, and
provides critical support to help accelerate research, discovery and
innovation. This is good for science, and ultimately good for the
public.”
“FRPAA will pay especially generous dividends to students by opening
access to publically funded research – a significant portion of which
has been unavailable to undergraduate and graduate students alike,”
noted Nick Shockey, Student Outreach Fellow for SPARC and recent
graduate of Trinity University, San Antonio. “This legislation will
help ensure that a student’s education is limited only by curiosity
rather than by the access each campus is able to afford.”
“We welcome the introduction of this landmark legislation,” added
Heather Joseph, spokesperson for the Alliance and Executive Director
of SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).
This bill reflects the recognition that expanded access to research
results will benefit all citizens. Every member of the public has a
stake in this research. Whether it is understanding climate change,
developing renewable energy resources, or helping to halt a flu
pandemic, these research results are of critical value to every
American taxpayer. We look forward to working with the wide coalition
of supporters of public access to see this legislation come to
fruition.”
The Alliance for Taxpayer Access calls on organizations and
individuals to write in support of the bill through the Web site at
http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.
For more information about the Federal Research Public Access Act,
visit http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.
###
The Alliance for Taxpayer Access is a coalition of patient, academic,
research, and publishing organizations that supports open public
access to the results of federally funded research. The Alliance was
formed in 2004 to urge that peer-reviewed articles stemming from
taxpayer-funded research become fully accessible and available online
at no extra cost to the American public. Details on the ATA may be
found at http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.
-------------------------------------
Jennifer McLennan
Director of Communications
SPARC
[log in to unmask]
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
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OPEN ACCESS WEEK 2009
October 19 - 23
www.openaccessweek.org
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http://www.arl.org/sparc
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