Cosponsor and Pass S. 779

Contact your Senator to ask that they demonstrate their support of open access to taxpayer funded research by cosponsoring and pushing for passage of the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act of 2015 (FASTR). Ask the staffer who answers the phone if their boss is supporting FASTR. If they say yes, ask if that is a firm yes. If they have objections, ask if they can explain what those might be. Please take a moment to share what you learn with us, so that we can follow up. And the staffers will in turn share those concerns or supporters (with the offices working on this bill) and follow up with your Senator.

What does this bill mean for libraries and the public?

• Each year, U.S. taxpayers invest hundreds of millions of dollars in publicly-funded research and have a right to expect access to the resulting published data, analyses and articles;
•  FASTR will assure that the tax-paying public—including students, teachers, journalists, scientists, entrepreneurs and established businesses alike—will have prompt access to this critical information without paying for it twice.  

If passed, the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act would:

• Extend the National Institutes of Health Public Access policy to 11 addi¬tional federal agencies and departments, thus requiring those with an annual extra-mural research budget of $100 million or more ultimately to mandate that all funded researchers provide the agency with an electronic copy of the final manuscript of any paper accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal;
• Ensure that all submitted manuscripts are preserved in a stable digital repository maintained by the funding 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.

Click here to contact your Senator.