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Daily Archives: February 8, 2016

USGS Increases Public Access to Scientific Research

News release:  “The U.S. Geological Survey is implementing new measures that will improve public access to USGS-funded science as detailed in its new public access plan. The plan enables the USGS to expand  its current on-line gateways to provide free public access to scholarly research and supporting data produced in full or in part with USGS funding, no matter how it is published. The USGS plan  “Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research at the U.S. Geological Survey: Scholarly Publications and Digital Data,” stipulates that, beginning October 1, the USGS will require that any research it funds be released from the publisher and  available free to the public no later than 12 months after initial publication. The USGS will also require that data used to support the findings be available free to the public when the associated study is published. The plan applies to research papers and data authored or co-authored by USGS, contract employees, award or grant recipients, partners and other entities. It includes materials published by any non-USGS entity, including scientific journals, professional society volumes, cooperating agency series, and university or commercial publishers. Exceptions are permitted only if the USGS agrees that a demonstrated circumstance restricts the data from public release, for example in rare cases where access must be restricted because of security, privacy, confidentiality, or other constraints. The plan responds to a February 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum that directed federal agencies with annual research and development budgets above $100 million to increase public access to peer-reviewed scientific publications and digital data resulting from federally funded research. On January 8, OSTP approved the USGS plan. Specifically, this plan requires that an electronic copy of either the accepted manuscript or the final publication of record is available through the USGS Publications Warehouse. Digital data will be available in machine readable form from the USGS Science Data Catalog. The plan will require the inclusion of data management plans in all new research proposals and grants.”

The Flash Crash: A New Deconstruction

Aldrich, Eric M. and Grundfest, Joseph and Laughlin, Gregory, The Flash Crash: A New Deconstruction (January 25, 2016). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2721922 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2721922 “On May 6, 2010, in the span of a mere four and half minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost approximately 1,000 points. In the following fifteen minutes it recovered essentially… Continue Reading

Comparative International Law, Foreign Relations Law and Fragmentation: Can the Center Hold?

Stephan, Paul B., Comparative International Law, Foreign Relations Law and Fragmentation: Can the Center Hold? (February 2016). Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 18. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2728494 “This chapter represents my contribution to a book provisionally entitled Comparative International Law, scheduled for publication by Oxford University Press in 2017.… Continue Reading

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: An Overview

CRS – Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: An Overview. Kirstin B. Blom, Analyst in Health Care Financing; Ada S. Cornell, Senior Research Librarian. February 3, 2016. “The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program provides health insurance to federal employees, retirees, and their dependents. This report provides a general overview of FEHB. It describes the… Continue Reading

CRS – What Does the Gig Economy Mean for Workers?

What Does the Gig Economy Mean for Workers? Sarah A. Donovan, Analyst in Labor Policy; David H. Bradley, Specialist in Labor Economics; Jon O. Shimabukuro; Legislative Attorney. February 5, 2016. “The gig economy is the collection of markets that match providers to consumers on a gig (or job) basis in support of on-demand commerce. In… Continue Reading

NY Fed – Survey of Consumer Expectations February 2016

“The New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) provides timely and comprehensive information about consumer expectations through three broad categories: inflation, labor market and household finance. The SCE contains monthly insight about how consumers expect overall inflation and prices for food, gas, housing, education and medical care to change over time. It also provides… Continue Reading

Additional Economic Census Subject Series Reports

“The Census Bureau today released three additional reports from its 2012 Economic Census Subject Series. The first, Retail Trade — Establishment and Firm Size, presents sales, payroll and employment data for the United States by various categories. For establishments, the categories are sales size, employment size and legal form of organization. For firms, the categories are sales size, employment size, concentration… Continue Reading

Prominent Authors Join Amicus Brief in Google Book Scanning Case

Via FindLaw via WSJ Law Blog – “Several famous authors filed a brief with the Supreme Court, asking it to hear a lawsuit over Google digital book library. Malcolm Gladwell, Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel, Steven Sondheim and others lent their names to the brief, contending Google is guilty of “massive copyright infringement…One of the writers’… Continue Reading