RE: Authors rights: Going too far

["George Porter" <george@library.caltech.edu>]

Heather Morrison raises an interesting question.

> "Perhaps it is timely for collections librarians to add 
> Author's Rights as a key criterion, when evaluating journal 
> subscriptions to add, or to cancel?"

Contrary to Joseph Esposito's response, and an orthogonal comment 
from Phil Davis, Heather comment is controversial insomuch as it 
posits a future criterion.

The time arrived at least a few years ago for Authors' Rights 
concerns to be a part of the subscription evaluation process in 
academic and research libraries.  liblicense-l, of all discussion 
fora, is not a place to question whether or not the 
subscription/licensing terms are relevant in making collections 
decisions.  A full consideration of publishers' policies 
includes:

* subscription fees, if any * access restrictions * access 
statistics supplied by vendor to subscriber * publisher platform 
compatibility with standards-based link resolver technologies * 
page charges * color charges * authors' rights/author-publisher 
contracts &/or licenses

In point of fact, these considerations are relevant whether or 
not a subscription decision is being made.  Caltech Library 
Services <http://library.caltech.edu/> provides a number of 
services for affiliated authors 
<http://library.caltech.edu/authors/authorservices.htm>.

We have posted a couple of recent analyses of journals 
<http://library.caltech.edu/authors/journalanalyses.htm> which 
solicited articles or peer review services by Caltech faculty. 
[Analyses were requested by the faculty.  Posting of the analyses 
was done with their knowledge and permission.]

The manner in which a publisher addresses issues of authors' 
rights is not an overriding concern in institutional subscription 
decisions.  It is certainly a matter which librarians assess and 
understand.  Authors' rights policies are an essential part of 
the context a journal plays in the scholarly communication 
environment.

Surely no one here has forgotten the lessons learned from Gordon 
& Breach.  G&B are no longer a going concern due solely to 
egregious pricing.  G&B attempted to abrogate fair use/fair 
dealing/moral rights/interlibrary lending through contract law 
embedded in subscription agreements.  The cancellations which 
rippled across the globe were a reaction by authors and libraries 
to the stranglehold G&B attempted to maintain on the intellectual 
content.

Librarians are unlikely to forbid authors from submitting their 
work to specific journals or publishers.  They may, however, 
provide data and tools (guidance and advice, when asked for 
opinion) about the state of authors' rights, fees (subscription & 
author based), visibility via indexing, accessibility (large 
subscription base or toll free access), average delay between 
submission/acceptance/publication, and other factors, but 
specifically within the context of the author/reviewer's field of 
interest.  Tools of note, for librarians and authors, include 
EigenFactor <http://eigenfactor.org/> and the Journal 
Cost-Effectiveness Calculator <http://journalprices.com/>.

George S. Porter
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
California Institute of Technology
Mail Code 1-43, Pasadena, CA  91125-4300
Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681