An Answer to the Research Works Act

On the most recent podcast, we talked at length about "open science" and the Research Works Act. Now, a representative in congress has proposed its antithesis The Federal Research Public Access Act. Here are the details from Wired:

The Federal Research Public Access Act would:

• Require federal departments and agencies with an annual extramural research budget of $100 million or more, whether funded totally or partially by a government department or agency, to submit an electronic copy of the final manuscript that has been 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.

I'm not saying that our podcast had anything to do with the introduction of this bill, but you can't help but notice how closely the two events coincided...

Ed

Ed enjoys all forms of entertainment and has an unnatural love for quantitative methodology. He operates out of a basement in Northern Virginia (@edomaniac).

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