At first blush, I only spot two changes in the bill, both fairly minor:
The new bill adds a specific exception for "research progress reports presented at professional meetings or conferences"
The new bill specifies additional committees to receive oversight reports
See the Alliance for Taxpayer Access's call to action to support the bill.
Sen. Cornyn's statement at the bill's introduction is now available in the Congressional Record:
... I am proud to report that the NIH's public access policy has been a
success over the past few years. By the NIH implementing a
groundbreaking public access policy, there has been strong progress in
making the NIH's federally funded research available to the public, and
has helped to energize this debate.
Although this has surely been an encouraging and important step
forward, Senator Lieberman and I believe there is more that can and
must be done, as this is just a small part of the research funded by
the Federal Government.
With that in mind, Senator Lieberman and I find it necessary to
reintroduce the Federal Research Public Access Act that will build on
and refine the work done by the NIH and require that the Federal
Government's leading underwriters of research adopt meaningful public
access policies. ...
This simple legislation will provide our government with an
opportunity to better leverage our investment in research and in turn
ensure a greater return on that investment. All Americans stand to
benefit from this bill, including patients diagnosed with a disease who
will have the ability to use the Internet to read the latest articles
in their entirety concerning their prognosis, students who will be able
to find full abundant research as they further their education, or
researchers who will have their findings more broadly evaluated which
will lead to further discovery and innovation. ...
Things to watch:
In the 2006 incarnation of FRPAA, an additional co-sponsor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), joined a few days after the bill was introduced. Which senators will join as co-sponsors this time, and when?
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
