SPARC supports the inclusion of language in reports accompanying Appropriations bills that calls for full implementation and coordinated reporting on agency public access policies resulting from the 2013 White House Directive on Public Access to Publicly Funded Research.
For FY18, language was submitted to 11 subcommittees:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Defense
- Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
- Homeland Security
- Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Legislative Branch
- Military Construction, Veteran Affairs, and Related Agencies
- State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
A sample of appropriations language is provided below:
Public access to Federally funded research results. The subcommittee applauds the considerable progress made by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in bringing to completion the department and agency public access plans called for by the OSTP Memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research, issued on February 22, 2013. The subcommittee understands that twenty-two departments and agencies with annual expenditures on research and development of $100 million or more now have completed their public access plans for increasing access to peer reviewed scholarly publications and digital data resulting from funded research. The subcommittee requests that OSTP continue to its efforts to coordinate the implementation of public access policies across Federal departments and agencies, and to identify additional opportunities to enhance access to the results of Federally funded research. The subcommittee notes OSTP’s useful quarterly progress reports on the progress of department and agency public access planning efforts, and the final report being issued on January 9, 2017. The subcommittee further requests that OSTP continue to report, on an annual basis, the progress of departments and agencies in implementing their public access plans, including relevant measures of progress, and on additional steps being taken to improve access to the results of Federally funded research.
Potential next action: The current funding bill is set to expire on February 9, 2018. The public access language currently in report language could be included in the next Appropriations bill to come before Congress; that language would be in effect through September 30, 2108.
