August 2, 2004 @ 08:08am
A faculty member has scanned his older articles, from journal issues not provided online from the publisher, and created pdf files for his own use (a little tricky itself, but probably fair use).
His question to me was, since he's used to sending out paper reprints of his articles to other researchers upon request, why can't he just fill such requests in the future by attaching the pdf to an e-mail reply. I told him "No, No, No!" :)
I went to the publisher's site and found a good overview of submitters' rights and restrictions as to distribution and sent it to him as a backup. (In this case Science Direct, which has a very clear policy under Guide for Authors http://authors.elsevier.com)
I am submitting this to the list because it may be a common question and because faculty seem to be upset that they cannot disrtribute their work to their colleagues elsewhere.
August 2, 2004 @ 08:08am
>>faculty seem to be upset that they cannot disrtribute their work to their colleagues elsewhere.
It is an understandable position, unfortunately. Is it possible (or more accurately, plausible) to negotiate publishing contracts (or choose publishers) such as to maintain rights like these for the authors? I can understand why an author wouldn't want to give up rights to basically use his own work, but I don't know how possible it is to maintain those rights and still get published. Does anyone have any experience with this?
August 2, 2004 @ 08:08am
As Ross stated, it's always best to get full rights when you sign the publication agreement. I just recently agreed to terms of a Haworth journal in which under AUTHOR RE-USE OF WORK it allows "retain photocopying, online transmittal, or downloading rights to any colleagues for the advancement of scientific research (with the exception of systematic distribution ...)"
Any author should retain such rights and then the issue is moot!
-- Trisha