If passed, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) would:
Require federal departments and agencies with an annual extramural research budget of $100 million to develop a policy to ensure researchers submit an electronic copy of the final manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Ensure that the manuscript is preserved in a stable digital repository maintained by that agency or in another suitable repository that permits free public access, interoperability, and long-term preservation.
Require that each taxpayer-funded manuscript be made available to the public online and without cost, no later than six months after the article has been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Require agencies to examine whether introducing open licensing options for research papers they make publicly available as a result of the public access policy would promote productive reuse and computational analysis of those research papers.
In essence, this legislation would advance and expand the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy implemented in 2008 which requires public access to taxpayer-funded research to an additional 11 agencies.
Please take the time to thank those who have already signed on to support FASTR and use the ALA’s Legislative Action Center to ask your representatives to cosponsor the bills.
