Dear Dr. Harnad and Dr. Bohlin:
Thanks for your message.
Under our current policy at *Science* Online, the full text of all Research Articles and Reports become available free of charge 12 months after the publication date. My recollection is that this began around a month after the Policy Forum article by Don Kennedy that you cited in your message, in late April or early May 2001, although I do not remember the precise date.
In addition to the Policy Forum article you have cited, the policy was briefly outlined at the end of an editorial, also by Don Kennedy, that appeared in our first issue of 2002 (
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/295/5552/13 ). I don't recall any other specific announcements in the print magazine (though there may have been house ads announcing the policy); I suspect that we also announced the policy at some point online on our site home page, www.sciencemag.org. Also on the site, information on this policy can be found at
http://www.sciencemag.org/subscriptions/accessinfo.dtl#partial and in our Guide to *Science* Online at
http://www.aaas.org/Science/global/gsol_contents.html#science .
I don't know the specifics of *Nature*'s policy, but my impression from their Web site is that full-text access to most of their back research content requires a paid subscription.
I hope this information helps. I would be happy to try to find more specific information if you need it.
Best wishes,
Stewart Wills
Stewart Wills, Ph.D.
Online Editor, Science
American Association for the
Advancement of Science
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005 USA
Voice: 202 326 6521
Fax: 202 289 7562
E-mail: swills_at_aaas.org
AOL IM: stewart20005
Yahoo IM: pequod_20005
>>> Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk> 07/15/02 12:00PM >>>
On Mon, 15 Jul 2002, Ingemar Bohlin wrote:
> As far as I can remember, it was in the spring or summer last year that
> Science, and I believe Nature, started to make much of their content freely
> available, 12 months after publication. I have scanned the web sites of the
> two journals, as well as the archive of the September 98 list, looking for
> details about these initiatives, but to no avail. What I am looking for is
> editorials in which the initiatives are announced. Would you know where I
> can find them?
"We [at AAAS/Science] have decided to make our own back research
reports and articles freely available after 12 months--at our own
Web site--later this year."
The Editors, Science (2001) Is a Government
Archive the Best Option? Science 291: 2318b-2319b
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5512/2318b
Amsci thread:
http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/1236.html
I have heard nothing since that editorial. Perhaps someone else has?
Stevan Harnad
> Ingemar Bohlin
> Section of Science & Technology Studies
> Gothenburg University
> P.O. Box 700
> 405 30 Gothenburg
> Sweden
> Tel +46 31 773 44 74
> Email Ingemar.Bohlin_at_sts.gu.se
> www.sts.gu.se
Received on Wed Jul 17 2002 - 16:48:02 BST