RE: Critique of APS Critique of NIH Proposal

["Klein, Bonnie" <BKlein@DTIC.MIL>]

Overall, Steve Harnard's comments are on point.

See Goverment Accountability Report, University Research: Most Federal
Agencies Need to Better Protect Against Financial Conflicts of Interest.
GAO-04-31 November 14, 2003. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0431.pdf.  The
report begins with a discussion of how government funded grant research is
made publicly available.

What GAO Found:  Each of the eight federal agencies GAO examined relies on
university scientists who receive federally funded research grants to make
the results available to the public. Although university scientists
customarily seek to publish their research results in peer-reviewed
journals, agencies cannot require such publication as a condition for
funding because it is impossible to ensure in advance that the results
will be accepted for publication. Agencies do, however, explicitly
encourage funding recipients to make results public. The Departments of
Agriculture, Defense, and Energy; the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA); and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also
disseminate the results of their funded research by posting them on their
Web sites. Officials from these agencies said that posting the results is
an effective way to share information among scientists, as well as with
the public.  In contrast, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the
National Science Foundation (NSF) do not post research results on their
Web sites. According to NIH officials, the risk associated with posting
researchers' final reports before they have been validated by peer review
is too great in the biomedical field. The Department of Education is
considering how best to widely disseminate the results of research it
funds.

Agency grant assistance agreements (note the operative term "agreements")
generally include a number of provisions and conditions.  Agencies have
the prerogative and flexibility to change these terms.  Agencies that
disseminate the results of grant work do so to foster technology
transition, the advancement of science and provide for open public
accountability.

Regarding the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Program, SBA is
responsible for overall policy.  However, agencies develop their own
implementation plans.  Also note SBIR is not a grant program.  See CENDI
Frequently Asked Questions About Copyright 4.2 Are Data Rights Any
Different Under Special Programs Such as the Small Business Innovative
Research (SBIR) Program?
http://www.cendi.gov/publications/04-8copyright.html#42.

For additional insights, you might look at the entire FAQ Section 4: Works
Created Under a Federal Contract or Grant.  The FAQ itself is a "work of
the U.S. Government (Title 17 USC 105). CENDI agencies fund 92% of all
government research and have long maintained institutional repositories.

Bonnie Klein
Chair, CENDI Copyright Working Group