why not supporting all research disciplines incl. social science and the 
humanities?
Falk Reckling
Austrian Science Fund


________________________________
Von: American Scientist Open Access Forum 
[american-scientist-open-access-fo...@listserver.sigmaxi.org] im Auftrag von 
Jennifer McLennan [jenni...@arl.org]
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 21. Juli 2010 17:52
An: american-scientist-open-access-fo...@listserver.sigmaxi.org
Betreff: House committee to hold hearing on public access to publicly funded 
research

ALLIANCE FOR TAXPAYER ACCESS
For immediate release
July 20, 2010

For more information, contact:
Jennifer McLennan
(202) 296-2296 ext. 121
jennifer [at] arl [dot] org

House committee to hold hearing on public access to publicly funded research
Support for public access expands in Congress

Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Policy, the Census and National 
Archives announced it will hold a hearing on the issue of public access to 
federally funded research on Thursday, July 29. The hearing will provide an 
opportunity for the Committee to hear the perspectives of a broad range of 
stakeholders on the potential impact of opening up access to the results of the 
United States’ more than $60 billion annual investment in scientific research.

The Subcommittee’s interest stems from the growing number of visible 
expressions of interest in the issue of public access that have surfaced in 
recent months, in both the Legislative and Executive branches of government. 
Notably, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy earlier this 
year hosted a Public Access Policy Forum on mechanisms that would leverage 
federal investments in scientific research and increase access to information.

Additionally, H.R. 5037, the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), which 
was introduced into the House on April 15 by Rep. Mike Doyle (R-PA) and is 
supported by a growing bi-partisan host of cosponsors, was referred to the 
Committee. The bill, and its identical Senate counterpart (introduced by Sens. 
Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX)), proposes to require those eleven 
federal agencies with extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to 
implement policies that deliver timely, free, online public access to the 
published results of the research they fund.

According to the notice:

“The hearing will examine the state of public access to federally-funded 
research in science, technology, and medicine. The hearing will assess and 
delineate the complex issues surrounding public access policies. The hearing 
will afford an opportunity for representatives from the areas of publishing, 
science and research, education and patient care to provide perspective on 
challenges, potential impact and opportunities regarding increased access.”

This open, public hearing will be held Thursday, July 29, at 2:00 PM in Rayburn 
House Office Building, room 2154.

“We are pleased that the Committee is creating this opportunity to shine a 
light on the issue of public access and examine the opportunities and 
implications it presents in an open, public forum,” said Heather Joseph, 
spokesperson for the Alliance for Taxpayer Access and Executive Director of 
SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). “This is 
an issue of deep importance to a wide range of stakeholders – from scientists 
to students, entrepreneurs to educators, publishers and the public. We welcome 
this chance for a diverse array of viewpoints on the issue to be heard.”

The growing interest in exploring effective public access policies in the U.S. 
reflects a larger worldwide trend. Around the globe, national and non-profit 
funding agencies are recognizing the opportunity to increase the return on 
their research grants by requiring that findings be made freely accessible on 
the Internet.

For more information about the issue of public access to publicly funded 
research, the Federal Research Public Access Act, and other public access 
policies, visit http://www.taxpayeraccess.org.

#
The Alliance for Taxpayer Access (ATA) 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 Programs & Operations
SPARC
jenni...@arl.org<mailto:jenni...@arl.org>
(202) 296-2296 x121
Fax: (202) 872-0884
*******************************
SPARC 2010 Digital Repositories Meeting
November 8 & 9 - Baltimore, MD
http://www.arl.org/sparc/media/09-0223.shtml
*******************************
Open Access Week 2010
October 18 - 24. Everywhere.
http://www.openaccessweek.org
*******************************
http://www.arl.org/sparc

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