February 5, 1999

Budget Law Forces Scientists to Release Data Gathered While Using Federal Grants

By PAULETTE WALKER CAMPBELL

Researchers blast the provision, which they say opens them up to harassment and deprives them of intellectual property

When Sen. Richard C. Shelby, an Alabama Republican, quietly tucked a two-sentence amendment into the federal-budget bill last fall, he felt he was acting in the interest of full disclosure: Requiring scientists to provide any taxpayer with research data collected through the use of federal grants.

Under the

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