Governmental Relations Committee
Midwest Chapter, Medical Library Association

News Item: Update on House & Senate language in NIH open access policy bills (7/18/05)

Dear GRC and Legislative Task Force Members:

Below is the markup language on NIH's public access policy from the Senate Subcommittee.  It differs from the House version (which follows the Senate language) so there will be some work to be done in the conference committee.  We will keep you informed.

SENATE LANGUAGE:

Public Access: The Committee has noted that the NIH has begun to implement its public access policy which is geared to ensuring that NIH-funded research results are made available as soon as possible to the public, health care providers, educators, and scientists through the NLM's PubMed Central (PMC) database.  The Committee agrees with the need for and goal of, issuing a balanced policy to help promote increased public access to NIH-funded research while maintaining the integrity of the peer review system which is essential to ensure the quality and accuracy of medical research in the US.  The Committee urges NIH to work with all stakeholders as it moves forward in implementing this policy. To assist the Congress in assessing the degree of success of this new policy, the Committee requests a progress report by no later than February 1, 2006.  Specifically the Committee requests that the report contain the following information: 1) the total number of peer-reviewed articles deposited in PubMed Central since May 2, 2005 implementation data and the distribution of chosen delay periods; 2) an assessment of the extent to which the implemented policy has led to improved public access; 3) an assessment of the impact of the policy on the peer review systems; and 4) the cost of operating the database.

HOUSE LANGUAGE:

Public access - The Committee is pleased that NIH is moving forward to implement its public access policy and is hopeful that the policy will be a first step toward providing free and timely access to the published results of all NIH-funded biomedical research. The Committee endorses NIH's expressed goals for the policy, namely to create an archive of NIH-funded research, to provide an opportunity to better manage the NIH research portfolio, and to provide enhanced public access to NIH research results. The Committee is concerned, however, that the final policy may not achieve these goals. For this reason, the Committee directs the Office of the Director to submit to the Committee by March 1, 2006 a comprehensive report on the progress achieved during the first eight months following the implementation of the new policy. Specifically, the Committee requests that the report provide: 1) the total number of applicable peer-reviewed articles deposited in PubMed Central since the May 2, 2005 implementation date; 2) the embargo period requested by the author for each deposited work; and 3) NIH's best estimate of the total number of applicable peer-reviewed articles available for deposit during this time frame, together with an explanation of the mechanisms relied upon to determine this estimate. Additionally, the Committee is concerned that grant recipients may not fully understand the NIH policy and the steps required to post an article in PubMed Central. The Committee, therefore, directs NIH to develop an aggressive education and outreach initiative aimed at informing grant recipients about the policy in an effort to maximize full and prompt participation.

Mary

Mary M. Langman, Coordinator
Information Issues and Policy
Medical Library Association
65 E. Wacker Pl., Ste. 1900
Chicago, Illinois 60601

ph  312/419-9094, ext. 27
fax  312/419-8950
mlaedo2@mlahq.org

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