Exploiting Elsevier's CC License Requirement to Subvert Embargo

Josh Bolick

doi:10.17161/jcel.v2i1.7162

Abstract

In the last round of author sharing policy revisions, Elsevier created a labyrinthine title-by-title embargo structure requiring embargoes from 12-48 months for author sharing via institutional repository (IR), while permitting immediate sharing via author's personal website or blog. At the same time, all pre-publication versions are to bear a Creative Commons-Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) license. At the time this policy was announced, it was rightly criticized by many in the scholarly communication community as overly complicated and unnecessary. However, this CC licensing requirement creates an avenue for subverting the embargo in the IR to achieve quicker open distribution of the author's accepted manuscript. In short, authors may post an appropriately licensed copy on their personal site, at which point we may deposit without embargo in the IR, not through the license granted in the publication agreement, but through the CC license on the author's version, which the sharing policy mandates. This poster outlines this issue, our experimentation with application, and engages viewers in questions regarding its potential risks, benefits, and workflows.For more information, including supplementary notes, see http://hdl.handle.net/1808/24107 .

Highlights

Elsevier Connect press release by Alicia Wise: “We invite hosting platforms – whether repositories or social collaboration networks – to work with us to make the vision of seamless research sharing a reality.”
Further: “...the new policy is exactly a reverse of what Elsevier calls it; it is a retreat from sharing and an effort to hamstring the movement toward more open scholarship.”
It requires authors to apply a “non-commercial and no derivative works” license for each article deposited into a repository, greatly inhibiting the re-use value of these articles. “

Summary

Introduction

Elsevier Connect press release by Alicia Wise: “We invite hosting platforms – whether repositories or social collaboration networks – to work with us to make the vision of seamless research sharing a reality.” “For institutional repositories, we have removed a complex distinction between mandated and voluntary posting, thereby permitting all institutional repositories to host their researchers’ accepted manuscripts immediately and to make these publicly accessible after the embargo period.”

Results

Conclusion