Re: Who Should Own Scientific Papers?

From: Bert Boyce <lsboyc[_at_]lsuvm.sncc.lsu.edu>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 08:40:18 -0500

On 9/10/98, Daniel J. Schaeffer <daniel_schaeffer[_at_]kirkland.com> wrote:
>
> That is a particularly egregious comment from Mr. Bloom. Given the
> apparent policy of Science that it must own the copyright of papers
> submitted to and published by it, I wonder what effect this would
> have on a scientist's ability to publish a follow-up to his or her
> Science-published study.
>
> I also wonder, have any scientists considered boycotting Science as
> a result of its copyright-transfer policy?

As I have been trying to repeatedly point out, Mr. Bloom's attitude and policies are nearly universal in learned literature (academic publishing). Thus there is really no where for the scientist to go to avoid these policies. This is why there is a real problem in scientific communication. The scientist does not directly make money on published journal artiicles. They enhance reputation and may lead to higher salaries. The author's prime interest is wide distribution in order to build reputation, and they have been conditioned to give up all their rights in order to see themselves in print. The price of the journals, which the academic's employer must pay are increasing beyond all reason. We have a growing crisis.

                                        BRB 

Bert R. Boyce, Professor & Dean
School of Library & Information Science
Louisiana State University
267 Coates Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

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LSBOYC[_at_]LSUVM.sncc.lsu.edu Received on Fri Sep 11 1998 - 13:40:36 GMT