Policy & Advocacy
SPARC advocates for policies at the local, national, and international level that promote openness in research and education. Listed below are SPARC's active policy priorities. Click here to see previous policies SPARC has advocated for.
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US National Open Access Policy
Open Access · Open DataSPARC supports a strong, zero embargo, full-reuse rights open access policy for US federally funded research, including articles, data, and code. Our advocacy is focused on both the executive and legislative branches of the US government.
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Passed into Law: OPEN Government Data Act (S. 760 / H.R. 1770)
Open DataThe Open, Permanent, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act is a bipartisan bill to codify President Obama’s Executive Order making “open and machine readable” the default for all government data. It passed Congress on December 31, 2018 and was signed into law on January 14,...
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H.R. 150 / S. 1829, the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act
Open Access · Open DataThis legislation aims to simplify and harmonize federal grant recipient reporting obligations around a standard taxonomy.
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H.R.5049, the Well-Informed, Scientific, and Efficient (WISE) Government Act
Open AccessThis bill would prohibit non-disclosure clauses in federal agency contracts with journal publishers and provide a way for the government to collect information on how much each agency is paying for subscriptions to these materials.
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The Affordable College Textbook Act
Open EducationThe Affordable College Textbook Act seeks to reduce the cost of textbooks at U.S. colleges and universities by expanding the use of open textbooks.
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Stopping the Cengage/McGraw-Hill Merger
After intense opposition from stakeholder groups and a year of regulatory review, the Cengage/McGraw-Hill has been called off. The merger would have remade the textbook market as a duopoly, and its termination prevents significant harm to students.
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FASTR: Fair Access to Science & Technology Research Act
Open AccessThe FASTR Act would require federal agencies with annual research budgets of $100 million to provide the public with online access to this research no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
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Environmental Protection Agency Rule on ‘Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science’
Open Access · Open DataEPA seeking public comments on a controversial new proposed rule on 'Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science'
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Open Textbook Pilot Grant Program
Open EducationCongress has appropriated funding for an Open Textbook Pilot grant program for the past three fiscal years. SPARC is working to renew and strengthen this program.
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Restoring Net Neutrality
Open Access · Open Data · Open EducationThe Congressional Review Act gives Congress the power to reinstate the Open Internet Order and ensure net neutrality essential for Open Access, Open Data, and Open Education.
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