From: Kathleen Shearer <[log in to unmask]> Date: Wed, 27 May 2015 12:38:39 -0400 (sorry for any cross-posting) In its recently released “Sharing and Hosting Policy FAQ”, Elsevier “recognize(s) that authors want to share and promote their work and increasingly need to comply with their funding body and institution's open access policies.” However there are several aspects of their new policy that severely limit sharing and open access, in particular the lengthy embargo periods imposed in most journals- with about 90% of Elsevier journals having embargo periods of 12 months or greater. This is a significant rollback from the original 2004 Elsevier policy which required no embargos for making author’s accepted manuscripts available; and even with the 2012 policy change requiring embargoes only when authors were subject to an OA mandate. With article processing charges (APCs) that can cost as much as $5000 US dollars for publishing in one of Elsevier’s gold open access titles or hybrid journals, this is not a viable option for many researchers around the world. Furthermore, the rationale for lengthy embargo periods is to protect Elsevier’s subscription revenue. We do not believe that scientific, economic and social progress should be hindered in order to protect commercial interests. In addition, there is currently no evidence that articles made available through OA repositories will lead to cancellations. Elsevier’s new policy also requires that accepted manuscripts posted in open access repositories bear a CC-BY-NC-ND license. This type of license severely limits the re-use potential of publicly funded research. ND restricts the use of derivatives, yet derivative use is fundamental to the way in which scholarly research builds on previous findings, for example by re-using a part of an article (with attribution) in educational material. Similarly, this license restricts commercial re-use greatly inhibiting the potential impact of the results of research. Elsevier’s Director of Access & Policy, Alicia Wise states that they “have received neutral-to-positive responses from research institutions and the wider research community.” Yet, since the “Statement against Elsevier’s sharing policy” was published just one week ago (on Wednesday May 20, 2015), it has been signed by close to 700 organizations and individuals, demonstrating that there is significant opposition to the policy. Elsevier has indicated that they “are always happy to have a dialogue to discuss these, or any other, issues further.” We would like to offer the following concrete recommendations to Elsevier to improve their policy: Elsevier should allow all authors to make their “author’s accepted manuscript” openly available immediately upon acceptance through an OA repository or other open access platform. Elsevier should allow authors to choose the type of open license (from CC-BY to other more restrictive licenses like the CC-BY-NC-ND) they want to attach to the content that they are depositing into an open access platform. Elsevier should not attempt to dictate author’s practices around individual sharing of articles. Individual sharing of journal articles is already a scholarly norm and is protected by fair use and other copyright exceptions. Elsevier cannot, and should not, dictate practices around individual sharing of articles. We strongly encourage Elsevier to revise their policy in order to better align with the interests of the research community. We would also be pleased to meet to discuss these recommendations with Elsevier at any time. Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, COAR Heather Joseph, Executive Director, SPARC On May 21, 2015, at 7:41 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: "Wise, Alicia (ELS-OXF)" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 21 May 2015 15:58:30 +0000 Hello everyone – Just a quick note to draw your attention to our article, posted today in Elsevier Connect and in response to yesterday’s statement by COAR: http://www.elsevier.com/connect/coar-recting-the-record. I’ll also append the full text of this response below. You might also be interested in this Library Connect webinar on some of the new institutional repository services we are piloting ( http://libraryconnect.elsevier.com/articles/2015-01/webinar-institutional-research-repositories-characteristics-relationships-and-roles ) and reading our policies for yourselves: · Sharing – http://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/article-posting-policy · Hosting - http://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/hosting With best wishes, Alicia ********* COAR-recting the record We have received neutral-to-positive responses from research institutions and the wider research community. We are therefore a little surprised that COAR has formed such a negative view, and chosen not to feedback their concerns directly to us. We would like to correct the misperceptions. Our sharing policy is more liberal in supporting the dissemination and use of research: * At each stage of the publication process authors can share their research: before submission, from acceptance, upon publication, and post publication. In institutional repositories, which no longer require a formal agreement to host full text content * Authors can also share on commercial platforms such as social collaboration networks * We provide new services to authors such as the share link which enables authors to post and share a customized link for 50 days free access to the final published article * For authors who want free immediate access to their articles, we continue to give all authors a choice to publish gold open access with a wide number of open access journals and over 1600 hybrid titles Unlike the claims in this COAR document, the policy changes are based on feedback from our authors and institutional partners, they are evidence-based, and they are in alignment with the STM article sharing principles. They introduce absolutely no changes in our embargo periods. And they are not intended to suddenly embargo and make inaccessible content currently available to readers – as we have already communicated in Elsevier Connect. In fact, we have been developing services, in partnership with libraries, to help institutional repositories track research output and display content to their users. This includes: • Sharing metadata: In order to showcase an institutions’ work, an institutional repository must identify their institution’s research output. By integrating the ScienceDirect metadata API into the repository, this task becomes simple. Even in cases where the repository doesn’t hold the full text manuscript, the article information and abstract can be displayed.. • Sharing user access information and embedding final articles: We are testing a workflow in which a user’s access level to the full text is checked on the fly, and if full text access is available, the user will be served the final published version, instead of the preprint or manuscript hosted by the repository. Users who are not entitled to view the full text of the final article will be led to the version available in the repository, or- if this is not available- to a page where they can view the first page of the article and options for accessing it (including via interlibrary loan). This ensures that users will always be served the best available version. This also enables the repository to display the best available version to their users even if no self-archived manuscript is available. We have not only updated our policies, we are active in developing and delivering technology that enables research to be shared more widely. COAR states that the addition of a CC-BY-NC-ND license is unhelpful. Feedback suggests that clarity about how manuscripts can be used is welcome, when asked in surveys often choose NC ND of their own volition (see the T&F study from 2014 at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/explore/open-access-survey-june2014.pdf ), and it works across a broad range of use cases. Our refreshed policies are about green OA, and some elements of this – for example the use of embargo periods – are specifically for green OA when it is operating in tandem with the subscription business model. Here time is needed for the subscription model to operate as libraries will understandably not subscribe if this material is available immediately and for free. In closing, we appreciate an open dialogue and are always happy to have a dialogue to discuss these, or any other, issues further. Dr Alicia Wise Director of Access and Policy Elsevier I The Boulevard I Langford Lane I Kidlington I Oxford I OX5 1GB M: +44 (0) 7823 536 826 I E: [log in to unmask]