Research Works Act

Research Works Act
Great Seal of the United States
Long title"To ensure the continued publication and integrity of peer-reviewed research works by the private sector." —H.R. 3699[1]
Legislative history

The Research Works Act, 102 H.R. 3699, was a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives at the 112th United States Congress on December 16, 2011, by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) and co-sponsored by Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY).[2] The bill contained provisions to prohibit open-access mandates for federally funded research[3] and effectively revert[4] the United States' National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy,[5] which requires taxpayer-funded research to be freely accessible online.[6] If enacted, it would have also severely restricted the sharing of scientific data.[7] The bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,[8] of which Issa is the chair.[9] Similar bills were introduced in 2008[10] and 2009[11] but have not been enacted since.[1]

On February 27, 2012, Elsevier, a major publisher, announced that it was withdrawing support for the Act.[12] Later that day, Issa and Maloney issued a statement saying that they would not push for legislative action on the bill.[13]

  1. ^ a b Rosen, Rebecca J. (January 5, 2012). "Why Is Open-Internet Champion Darrell Issa Supporting an Attack on Open Science?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012.
  2. ^ H.R. 3699
  3. ^ Joseph, Heather (January 6, 2012). "Take Action: Oppose H.R. 3699, a new bill to block public access to publicly funded research". SPARC blog. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  4. ^ Trying to roll back the clock on Open Access statement by the American Library Association that "vehemently oppose[e]d the bill".
  5. ^ "NIH Public Access Policy Details". nih.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  6. ^ Dobbs, David (January 6, 2012). "Congress Considers Paywalling Science You Already Paid For". Wired. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012.
  7. ^ Piwowar, Heather. Research Works Act Attacks Data Dissemination Too
  8. ^ "Research Works Act (2011 - H.R. 3699)". GovTrack.us.
  9. ^ "List of members elected to the standing committees of the House of Representatives on January 5, 2011". Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  10. ^ Peter Suber (October 2, 2008). "A bill to overturn the NIH policy". SPARC Open Access Newsletter. Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  11. ^ Peter Suber (March 2, 2009). "Re-introduction of the bill to kill the NIH policy". SPARC Open Access Newsletter. Archived from the original on January 10, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  12. ^ "Message on the Research Works Act". www.elsevier.com.
  13. ^ Howard, Jennifer (February 27, 2012). "Legislation to Bar Public-Access Requirement on Federal Research Is Dead". Retrieved February 27, 2012.