CHE report on PLoS copyright editorial

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Further to the discussion of copyrights on this list, of possible interest
and with thanks to the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Ann Okerson

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CHRONICLE of HIGHER EDUCATION

MAGAZINES & JOURNALS

A glance at the July issue of "PLoS Biology":
How less-restrictive copyrights would benefit science

Copyright does not have to be all or nothing because there is a fertile
middle ground between public domain and "all rights reserved," according
to three officials at the journal's publisher, the Public Library of
Science.

"In practice, academic authors typically assign full copyrights to their
articles to the publishers of the journals in which the works appear,"
they write. But that is not always to the authors' advantage, particularly
for scientists and medical researchers, the PLoS officials say.

"When authors publish their work in journals with restrictive copyright
practices, it becomes illegal (often for even the authors themselves) to
store primary-research articles in many archives or include them in course
packs or use them for other responsible purposes," they say.

Now that the Internet has made possible so many new and desirable uses for
research papers, publishers should consider using copyrights that allow
more-liberal access and use, they assert. And they urge authors to try to
place their papers with publishers that, like the Public Library of
Science, do not reserve all rights to their materials.

Scientists, they say, "have an affirmative moral obligation to share the
knowledge they create -- not just with students and faculty at elite
Western universities, but with everyone who could use it and build upon
it."

The authors of the article are Andy Gass, outreach coordinator;  Helen
Doyle, director of development and strategic alliances;  and Rebecca
Kennison, director of journal production.

The article, "Whose Copy? Whose Rights?," is online at 
http://www.plosbiology.org/plosonline/?request=get-toc

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