U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder Touts Bill That Would Make Research More Available During Kansas U Visit

Matt Erickson | Lawrence Journal-World | October 24, 2012

If taxpayers help fund scholarly research, U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder said Wednesday, then it ought to be free and available for anyone to see. During a talk at Kansas University’s Watson Library, Yoder, an Overland Park Republican, outlined a piece of legislation he’s supporting that would make that the case more often.

The bill is called the Federal Research Public Access Act, and it would require that scholarly journal articles fueled by federal research funds be easily available for free online, within six months of their publication. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay twice for research,” Yoder told listeners.

By that, he said he meant universities shouldn’t have to pay thousands in state funds for access to research that already made use of federal tax dollars. Yoder said he became a supporter of open access to research after a meeting in Washington, D.C., with former KU provost David Shulenburger, who now works for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities there. Shulenburger helped create an open-access repository of research by KU faculty during his time as provost...