Access to Research Data in the 21st Century

In the years since the Shelby Amendment, scientists, industry, and policy makers have struggled over how the public’s new right of access should be applied to scientific data. There is loose agreement that research data should be accessible, but wide disagreement over the “depth” to which the public has such a right. The National Academies’ Science, Technology, and Law Program held a workshop to explore the mounting tensions in the federal regulatory process between the need to provide access to research data and the need to protect the integrity of the research process. The workshop provided a picture of the debate arising from passage of the Shelby Amendment and the resulting OMB revisions of Circular A-110. This report is a summary of the workshop.