Re: SCIENCE TODAY?

On Tue, 02 Mar 1999, Dan L. Burk <burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu> wrote:
>
> On 03/01/99, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > On 23 Feb 1999, Dan L. Burk <burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > On 02/22/99, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > In science and medicine it is not uncommon for an unnammed
> > > > writer to prepare an article for presentation. My understanding
> > > > is that this writer makes no claim on copyright which is
> > > > normally transferred "as a work made for hire" to the publisher.
> > >
> > > 1) Speaking as an author on several scientific articles, I have
> > > never encountered or heard of such a practice.
> >
> > Here is an exerpt from an ad in CBE Views [20:105.1997]
> >
> > MEDICAL SCIENCE WRITER
> >
> > Eli Lilly and Company is seeking medical writing
> > and editing candidates for therapeutic area
> > publications teams. Primary responsibilities
> > include working onsite with multiple project
> > teams to plan publication strategies; write,
> > edit, and review scientific manuscripts, abstracts,
> > and poster presentations; coordinate review and
> > approval processes; and coordinate freelance
> > writing projects ... bachelor's degree is required ...
>
> Pardon; I had assumed that we were discussing academic research, not
> industrial research. I am not terribly surprised to learn that
> corporations hire ghost writers; I would still be quite suprised if
> this practice occurs among academic biomedical researchers.

National Science Board figures suggest that academic authors account for only 71% of U.S. articles. Only half the U.S. science and engineering workforce is located at academic institutions. [SCIENCE & ENGINEERING INDICATORS 1998. 5-51.

The American Medical Association MANUAL OF STYLE [9th ed. Williams and Wilkins 1998] specifies, "Ghost writers are not necessarily ghost authors. For example, a writer may not have participated in the research or analysis but may have been given the data to write a report for publication ... should be named, with their permission, in the acknowledgements." JAMA and NEJM have periodically covered ghost writers.

The CBE Style Manual [6th Ed. Cambridge 1994] discusses authorship at some length. It notes that, "for large-scale research involving many investigators, authorship can be indicated by a collective (corporate) title." It adds that further information, "the minimum is the name and address of the investigator who will respond to inquiries about, or criticism of, the reported research. An appendix can list persons ... who were responsible for writing ... can identify participants by function."

This takes us to the idea of attributions similar to movie credits which specify the nature of each participant's contribution.

> > > 2) If a writer is a statutory author, copyright vests whether a
> > > claim is made or not.
> > >
> > > 3) If the writer is an employee of the publisher such that the work
> > > is a work made for hire, there is no transfer; the publisher IS
> > > the author. If the writer is not an employee, the copyright can
> > > be transferred but it is NOT a work made for hire (except in a
> > > situation that probably does not apply here, pursuant to a
> > > written agreement, when the work falls into certain statutorily
> > > ennumerated categories).
> >
> > If the writer is an employee or a freelance contractor
> > of the researcher, however, I believe the work would be most likely
> > "made for hire."
>
> At the risk of repeating myself, I will point out again that if the
> writer is an employee, contrary to your initial statement, s/he is NOT
> an author;

My copy of Black's dictionary makes no mention of employee status in its definition of 'author,' as follows:

     One who produces, by his own intellectual labor
     applied to the materials of his composition, an
     arrangement or compilation new in itself. A
     beginner or mover of anything; hence efficient 
     cause of a thing; creator; a composer, as
     distinguished from an editor, translator or
     compiler.

It seems to me that freelance technical writers, often working through temp agencies, make no claim to copyright or attribution in research articles or other communications they may create.

> and if s/he is a freelance contractor, contrary to your current
> statement, the work by definition CANNOT be a work made for hire
> (unless it falls into the exception I previously noted, which it
> almost certainly doesn't).

Would a journal publisher's contract reading as follows would be incorrect?

     If the Contribution was written by the Contributor
     as a work-made-for-hire in the course of employment,
     the Contribution is owned by the company/employer
     which must sign this Agreement in the space provided
     below. In such case, the company/employer hereby
     transfers and assigns to the Publisher the full and
     exclusive rights in the Contribution ....

Or do you mean that a 'work-made-for-hire' loses that legal status under the present U.S. law when the rights are transferred?

Thanks for your comments.

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Wed Mar 03 1999 - 21:26:07 GMT