MLA-Phil » Government Relations

Federal Research Public Access Act Introduced to Congress

Stephanie Ferretti — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:29:39 +0000

The Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) was introduced into the House by Mike Doyle, a Democrat of Pennsylvania on February 9^th 2012, and will require free online public access to peer-reviewed manuscripts or published articles “as soon as practicable, but not later than 6 months after publication.”

It is expected to be introduced into the Senate shortly. Original sponsors in the House also include Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO). Senate sponsors are Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and possibly Sen. Durbin (D-IL)

The NIH released a new (February 2012) document summarizing its public access policy. Briefly stated, this will open to the public some 90,000 new scientific articles each year reporting research that U.S. taxpayers have funded through NIH’s annual 32 billion dollar investment in biomedical research. The NIH policy honors, and is consistent with, U.S. copyright law.

MLA President Perry Weighs in on Advocacy for Hospital Libraries

Stephanie Ferretti — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:57:19 +0000

Jerry Perry, believes all of us can play a role in fighting for hospital libraries. His specific suggestions and links to relevant resources can be found in a recent post on his presidential blog.

MLA/AAHSL Oppose Research Works Act

Stephanie Ferretti — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:55:18 +0000

MLA/AAHSL sent a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform opposing “The Research Works Act”, H.R. 3699 which would overturn the NIH public access policy and prohibit other federal agencies from establishing similar policies. Read more from this letter on ”Research Works Act“.

Budget Cuts Force National Biological Information Infrastructure Program to Close

Stephanie Ferretti — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:26:01 +0000

The biodiversity database created in 1994, which allowed researchers access to a variety of environmental data will end Janurary 15, 2012. The program’s closure follows a series of drastic cuts.

Research Works Act

Julia Lewis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:38:34 +0000

Does a bill introduced in the House of Representatives threaten to cripple the National Institutes of Health policy that its “grantees provide copies of the papers they publish in peer-reviewed journals to the library?” The Research Works Act (HR 3699.IH) could penalize public access. For the full article read Research Bought, then Paid For.

New York Times OP-ED: By Michael B. Eisen Published: January 10, 2012