

Open Access Bill for (nearly) all US publicly-funded research - michael_nielsen
http://doyle.house.gov/press-releases-1/2012/02/doyle-introduces-bill-to-ensure-public-access-to-federally-funded-research.shtml

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elehack
I really like seeing this bill come up - the opposite of the Research Works
Act, and a bill that will greatly improve access to research in the U.S.

I am concerned, however, that it uses “peer reviewed journals” as the standard
for mandating publication. Computer science does most of its ongoing
publication in conferences, not journals; also, specifically naming “journals”
seems to me to invite name games, unless journal is defined sufficiently
broadly in the bill's text.

I would prefer to see the requirements kick in when research is published in
any peer-reviewed publication.

But still, this bill is a great step forward, and things like this are details
that can hopefully be worked out.

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hpiwowar
Worth noting that this bill allows but does not require access for text
mining. For example, papers in PubMed Central can not be systematically
downloaded (PMC is the result of a previous rule within the NIH).

According to Peter Suber, "If it's passed, agencies will have a year to adopt
their own policies, and we can then press them to require libre."

[https://plus.google.com/116956861224568841998/posts/DPcA4f1q...](https://plus.google.com/116956861224568841998/posts/DPcA4f1qEs5)

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michael_nielsen
The short summary is that this act (FRPAA) will require free online public
access to most publicly-funded research in the US.

Many more details are available here:
[http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Notes_on_the_Federal_Resea...](http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Notes_on_the_Federal_Research_Public_Access_Act)

