[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47177-47178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18975]
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Draft Policy and Implementation Plan for Public Access to
Scientific Publications and Digital Data From Research Funded by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.
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SUMMARY: This Federal Register Notice announces an opportunity for
public review and comment on the draft Policy and Implementation Plan
for Public Access to Scientific Publications and Digital Data from
Research Funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
DATES: Comments must be received by VA on or before October 14, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted through http://www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand delivery to the Director,
Regulations Management (02REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810
Vermont Avenue NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202)
273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response
to ``Policy and Implementation Plan for Public Access to Scientific
Publications and Digital Data from Research Funded by the Department of
Veterans Affairs.'' Copies of comments received will be available for
public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management,
Room 1063B, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 461-4902 for an
appointment (this is not a toll-free number). In addition, during the
comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal
Docket Management System at http://www.Regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Puglisi, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Office of Research Oversight (10R), 810 Vermont Avenue NW.,
Washington, DC 20420, (202) 632-7676 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA's draft policy and implementation plan
for increased public access to the results of its research was
developed in response to recent White House initiatives on federally-
funded scientific research. In its February 22, 2013, memorandum, the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed
each Federal agency with over $100 million in annual expenditures for
the conduct of research and development to develop a plan to support
increased public access to the results of research funded by the
Federal Government, including digital data sets and results published
in peer-reviewed scholarly publications arising directly from
federally-funded research (OSTP, Increasing Access to the Results of
Federally Funded Scientific Research, February 22, 2013).
In implementing policies on public access to research publications
and digital research data, VA must first remain cognizant of its
ethical and legal obligations to safeguard the privacy of Veterans (and
VA's other research subjects) and the confidentiality of their private
information, while promoting the highest quality science. VA also
recognizes that Veterans and the public at-large have a substantive
interest in accessing the results of the research that VA conducts.
VA's responsibility precludes unlimited public access to private
information about individual research subjects. With this in mind, VA
has carefully weighed the public benefits versus the risks of harm to
Veterans in establishing the draft requirements.
VA is committed to ensuring that the final study results, including
peer-reviewed publications and digital data sets from VA-funded
scientific research are made available to the scientific community,
industry, and the general public with the fewest constraints possible,
while protecting the privacy of the Veterans (and others) about whom
research data are obtained and safeguarding the confidentiality of
their data.
Proposed requirements for public access to scientific publications
will apply to all peer-reviewed publications reporting results of
research that are either funded by the VA Office of Research and
Development (ORD) or conducted, supported, or sponsored by any Veterans
Health Administration (VHA) program office.
Proposed requirements for public access to digital data will apply
to the final research data underlying all peer-
[[Page 47178]]
reviewed publications reporting results of studies supported by ORD
Cooperative Studies Program or ORD research awards of $500,000 or more
in direct costs for any one year; and national studies conducted,
supported, or sponsored by VHA program offices. VA proposes to begin
sharing digital research data through controlled public access
mechanisms and move toward open public access to the extent that the
protection of Veterans' identifiable private information can be
ensured.
Availability: Persons with access to the Internet may obtain the
document at: http://www.va.gov/ORO/Docs/Guidance/Plan_for_Access_to_Results_of_VA_Funded_Rsch_02_14_2014.pdf. Alternatively, the
document may be obtained by mail or by calling the Office of Research
Oversight at (202) 632-7676 (this is not a toll-free number).
Signing Authority
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or designee, approved this
document and authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document
to the Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as
an official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jose D.
Riojas, Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this
document on July 31, 2014, for publication.
Dated: August 6, 2014.
Robert C. McFetridge,
Director, Regulation Policy and Management, Office of the General
Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2014-18975 Filed 8-11-14; 8:45 am]
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