FASTR - Proposed legislation would increase open access requirements

FASTR, the "Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act" has been introduced on both sides of Congress and referred to committees.

If passed, this bill would require

"Federal agenc(ies) with extramural research expenditures of over $100,000,000 (to) develop a ... public access policy...for the collection and depositing of papers...from research supported...from funding by the Federal Government..not later than 6 months after publication in peer reviewed journals..."

-From version S.350 of this bill, introduced 2/14/2014

FASTR is based on the  NIH Open Access Policy, which currently requires scientists to "submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts...(arising) from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central...(to be made) accessible to the public (within) 12 months of publication..." 

FASTR is also related to the recently announced policy of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).  Like FASTR, the OSTP memo requires agencies to address peer reviewed publications. Unlike FASTR, this memo also requires federal agencies to address research data. Keep in mind, the OSTP policy is not a law. It is only in effect during the current administration. Who knows what will happen in two years?

Want to find out more about FASTR?

• SPARC provides some background
• Library Journal has summarized some of the debate surrounding this legislation
• Go to congress.gov. Type the title "Fair Access to Science and Technology Research"in order to read the text of the bill and see the current status

Remember, the library has a guide to Scholarly Communications with background information on open access, author rights, and more.