Communications / PSP...Links
PSP . . . Links
A periodic alerting service leading you to information relevant to the professional and scholarly publishing industry
No. 78, January 31, 2012
Table of Contents
1. What’s New on the AAP Website?
2. PSP Education and Training Programs
3. Other Programs of Interest
4. New Job Postings
5. Suggested Reading
6. The 2011 PROSE Awards Luncheon to be Webcast Live on February 2nd
Visit http://www.proseawards.com/video.html from 12-1:30pm (ET)
on Thursday, February 2nd
1. What’s New on the AAP Website?
PEER Economics Research: Final Report now available.
This study considers the effect of large-scale deposit on scholarly research publication and dissemination (sharing of research outputs), beginning with the analysis of publishers and institutions managing repositories and their sustainability.
AAP submitted comments in response to the request for information from the U.S. Copyright Office about how the current legal system hinders or prevents copyright owners from pursuing copyright infringement claims that have a relatively small economic value (”small copyright claim”)
2. PSP Education and Training Programs
PSP Programs & Conferences:
PSP 2012 Annual Pre-Conference
Smart Content, Smart Delivery, Smart Business
February 1st
Mayflower Hotel
Washington, DC
PSP 2012 Annual Pre-Conference Program
PSP 2012 Annual Conference
Prospering with Digital: Making Investments Pay
February 1st – 3rd
Mayflower Hotel
Washington, DC
PSP 2012 Annual Conference Program
Registration Form
Hotel Information
Additional Information
The Usage Factor
A Webinar Presented by COUNTER and PSP Journals Committee
February 15th
11:30am-12:15pm (ET)
Registration Form
Additional Information
For more information on all of these seminars, please visit http://publishers.org/psp/seminars/.
For more information contact: spinto@publishers.org.
AAP Webinar
Rights and Permissions Advisory Committee’s
Copyright Basics
Thursday, February 9th
2:00-3:30pm (ET)
Via Webinar
This webinar will feature speaker Eric S. Slater, Esq. of the American Chemical Society discussing the basics of copyright in book and journal publishing. Topics that will be discussed include copyright’s legislative background; definitions, concepts and categories of copyright; copyright’s limitations; transfer and termination of copyright; copyright infringement remedies; seminal cases in fair use and copyright; and public domain.
Registration Fees: $25.00 AAP Member $40.00 Non-Member
For more information contact kkolendo@publishers.org.
3. Other Programs of Interest
March 20th – 21st
Hong Kong
March 21st – 23rd
Washington, DC
4. New Job Postings
- Thieme Medical Publishers has an opening for a Senior Production Editor in their New York office. The Senior Production Editor is responsible for the management of all aspects of Thieme clinical reference book production, guiding the projects from manuscript through bound books and e-publication. The SPE must work diligently to communicate about and coordinate complex projects with outside vendors including, but not limited to, production editors, copy editors, designers, compositors, and printers. Every SPE is responsible for ensuring that our high quality standards are met and timely delivery is accomplished while being mindful of cost. The Thieme New York production team works very closely with all Thieme departments including those in Germany and potentially with those in Delhi.
- The American Psychiatric Association has a vacancy for a Production Director responsible for overseeing activities related to the production of print and online products, including books (30/year), journals (2 monthly, 1 bimonthly, 2 quarterly), the APA’s tabloid newspaper, Psychiatric News (semimonthly). It involves supervising the production unit, which includes approx. 10 individuals involved in design, composition and layout, prepress production, and trafficking. The incumbent must have a full range of experience with development of print and digital files within an XML workflow and be able to manage the activities of a wide variety of vendors to promote efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality control of American Psychiatric Publishing’s program.
- Thieme Medical Publishers has an immediate opening for a Journals Coordinator. This full-time position, based in the New York office, entails assisting the Journal Publisher who is currently based in Paris, France and the Senior Acquisition Editor who is based in Stuttgart, Germany.
For full details, please visit http://publishers.org/pspjobs/ to view these and other exciting career opportunities. To post a position please contact spinto@publishers.org.
5. Suggested Reading
(Please note: some links may require passwords)
Websites of Interest
***Recommended Resource***
The National Science Foundation. Science and Engineering Indicators: 2012
This biennial report provides a broad base of quantitative information on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise.
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) announces the release of the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries.
It is described as a clear and easy-to-use statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use developed by and for librarians who support academic inquiry and higher education.
BISG Rights Committee and EDItEUR Publish Royalty Report Message Formats
Articles of Interest
Copyright & Intellectual Property
ALA Midwinter 2012: Panel Tells Librarians to Go Forth and Digitize
PW – 1/23/12
Despite recent lawsuits over e-reserves, digital archives, and orphan works, at a two-hour program at ALA Midwinter, panelists urged librarians to go forth and digitize, that they already have the sturdy legal cover they need to proceed: fair use.
Digital Piracy
Obama: Foreign Internet piracy is 'not right'
The Hill – 1/24/12
President Obama did not refer to the recent controversy over Internet piracy bills in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, but he argued that other countries must protect American copyrights.
After Megaupload shutdown, similar sites block file sharing
Globe and Mail – 1/24/12
Several online file-sharing sites have acted to curtail their exposure to allegations of copyright infringement after last week’s shutdown of Megaupload.com, which U.S. authorities’ claim was responsible for music, movie and software piracy on a vast scale.
MegaUpload: The Content Cartel Strikes Back
PCWorld – 1/24/12
Last week'sarrests at MegaUploadare continuing to send mega-shockwaves across the Webosphere, and it's turning into a mega-mess.
If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA
Forbes – 1/23/12
When sites like Wikipedia and Reddit banded together for a major blackout January 18th, the impact was felt all the way to Washington D.C. Few people have heard of ACTA, or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, but the provisions in the agreement appear quite similar to – and more expansive than – anything we saw in SOPA.
Does the Megaupload takedown prove that SOPA is unnecessary?
The Washington Post – 1/23/12
The logic behind Congress’ much-maligned online-piracy bills was that more weapons were needed to go after copyright infringers overseas. But last week, the U.S. governmenttook downMegaupload, one of the biggest file-sharing sites abroad. Doesn’t that suggest new laws aren’t necessary?
Piracy is a crime: The Web blackout was dramatic, but short on facts
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 1/23/12
The influence peddlers weren't dealing in dollars this time, though, and the targets of their ire were two bills intended to cut off Internet access to foreign sites that sell pirated products to U.S. customers.
Collapse of Piracy Bills Leaves Hollywood Seeking a Truce
Bloomberg – 1/23/12
The collapse of anti-piracy bills in Congress has left Hollywood studios searching for a compromise with Internet companies after an online protest by Google Inc. and Wikipedia unraveled support for the legislation.
Epic clash: Silicon Valley blindsides Hollywood on piracy
Reuters – 1/22/12
The massive online protest last Wednesday, in which Wikipedia and thousands of other websites closed down or otherwise protested and helped to kill controversial online piracy legislation, was widely heralded as an unprecedented case of a grassroots uprising overcoming backroom lobbying.
Politico – 1/20/11
House and Senate leaders abandoned plans to move onSOPAandPIPAon Friday — the surest sign yet that a wave of online protests have killed the controversial anti-piracy legislation for now and maybe forever.
7 Charges as F.B.I. Closes a Top File-Sharing Site
New York Times – 1/20/12
In what the federal authorities on Thursday called one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the Web site Megaupload and charged seven people connected with it with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy.
U.S. Shuts Offshore File-Share ‘Locker’
Wall Street Journal – 1/20/12
The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down one of the world's most popular file-sharing websites as a debate rages in Washington over whether to give the government new powers to crack down on Internet pirates.
Why the feds smashed Megaupload
Ars Technica – 1/20/12
The US governmentdropped a nuclear bomb on "cyberlocker" site Megauploadtoday, seizing its domain names, grabbing $50 million in assets, and getting New Zealand police to arrest four of the site's key employees, including enigmatic founder Kim Dotcom. In a 72-page indictment unsealed in a Virginia federal court, prosecutors charged that the site earned more than $175 million since its founding in 2005, most of it based on copyright infringement.
A Good and Bad Week for Free Speech
The Chronicle of Higher Ed – 1/20/12
On Wednesday thousands of scholars joined millions of people around the world in online protest of two proposed laws, theStop Online Piracy Act(SOPA) and theProtect IP Act(PIPA). SOPA and PIPA would, in the view of many observers, authorize wide-ranging online censorship in the guise of stopping copyright infringement.
The EU Is Ready To Sign Anti-Piracy ACTA Treaty
Business Insider – 1/20/12
Ireland is to sign a controversial international agreement tomorrow which promises a major international crackdown on thetradeof counterfeit goods – and illegal internet file sharing.
Four Things Americans Have Learned from the SOPA Fight
US News & World Report – 1/18/12
Still, the fight against piracy will no doubt continue, with the nation better informed about what is at stake. These are four new things we've all learned from the SOPA/PIPA fight.
E-Books
At ALA Midwinter, Librarians Hear Messages of “Empowerment”
Publishers Weekly – 1/23/12
When Molly Raphaelbecame presidentof the American Library Association in 2011, she unveiled an agenda that focused on empowerment — and at the ALA 2012 Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX, “empowerment” has been an overarching theme.
Library Journal – 1/22/12
The leaders of the American Library Association (ALA) will meet at the end of this month with top executives from Macmillan, Simon & Schuster (S&S), and Penguin publishing houses, which all do not allow libraries to circulate their ebooks (in Penguin’s case the prohibition is on new releases only).
Tablet and E-Reader Sales Soar
New York Times – 1/22/12
For adults, tablet computers and e-readers were the gifts of choice, judging by a new report that indicates the number of adults in the United States who own tablets and e-readers nearly doubled from mid-December to early January.
Higher Education
Obama Highlights Education's Role in Reaching National Policy Goals
The Chronicle of Higher Ed – 1/25/12
With the presidential election less than a year away, President Obama focused his third State of the Union address on the struggles of the nation's middle class, urging Congress to invest in worker retraining and make college more affordable for the average American family.
Digital Textbooks From a Company Not Named Apple
New York Times Bits Blog – 1/18/12
There’s an old saying that if you want to be a leader and you see a parade, jump in front of it. So it is with digital textbooks, an area that’s about to experience the high-tech equivalent of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as Apple prepares to push into the business.
As Apple Announcement Looms, Chegg Enters E-Textbook Wars
Wall Street Journal – 1/18/12
On the eve ofApple’s highly anticipated foray into digital textbooks, the e-textbook wars are heating up. Chegg, best known for selling and renting physical textbooks through the mail, will on Wednesday announce a new way for students to buy and rent textbooks to read online.
Veterinary Medical Colleges Hit Hard by Financial Cuts in Public Support
Press release AAVMC – 1/15/12
The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) recently announced that the country’s 28 schools and colleges of veterinary medicine have been hit hard by steep reductions in state appropriations to higher education, leading to cuts in faculty, significant tuition increases and increased student debt. This has hampered the colleges’ ability to update or maintain campus infrastructure, invest in new technology, and maintain academic programs and course offerings for students.
Libraries
Making Sense in a Digital World | Peer to Peer Review
Library Journal – 1/26/12
Forbook publishers, the digital shift seems to be a good news/bad news story. The World Wide Web is a platform full of opportunity for reaching customers, who are too cheap to pay reasonable prices and might just steal you blind!
Digital Library Lending Up 130% in 2011
TIME – 1/19/12
Oddly enough, as PaidContent explains, not allbook publishersare exactly in favor of digital lending. Only Random Houses offers unlimited library access to e-books.
Professional & Scholarly Publishing
Challenging Medical Ghostwriting in US Courts
PLoS Medicine – 1/24/12
Despite growing concern about medical ghostwriting, pharmaceutical companies, universities, medical journals, and communication companies employing ghostwriters have thus far failed to adequately stem the problem. As a result, some commentators have proposed that legal remedies could be sought by patients harmed by drugs publicized in ghostwritten papers.
Medical Academics Could Be Legally Liable for Ghostwritten Articles
The Chronicle of Higher Ed – 1/24/12
Condemnation by ethicists and loss of grant money are not the only penalties facing academics who put their names on medical-journal articles they didn't write. Personal-injury lawyers have them in their sights now, too.
Online Social Network Seeks to Overhaul Peer Review in Scientific Publishing
Science Now – 1/23/12
There's growing resentment in some quarters about being asked to take valuable time to provide free reviews tojournalsthat are operated by for-profit publishers or that don't make their papersopen-access. Three Finnish researchers have created an online service that could eventually replace or supplement the current way journals get scientists to peer review submitted manuscripts.
SPARC Announces New European Leadership
SPARC Press Release – 1/1/12
In a move that completes a year-long strategic restructuring of SPARC’s operations in Europe, Dr. Alma Swan has been appointed to the position of Director of European Advocacy, and Lars Bjørnshauge has been named SPARC’s Director of European Library Relations.
Research Works Act
Branding academic publishers 'enemies of science' is offensive and wrong
The Guardian – 1/27/12
What of the USResearch Works Act, the catalyst for Dr Taylor's tirade? The RWA, if it makes it through Congress to become law, would prevent US agencies from appropriating published articles for "network dissemination" without the prior consent of the copyright holder.
SOPA's Killer Cousin You've Probably Never Heard About
Huffington Post – 1/26/12
A recent bill, the "Research Works Act", proposed under pressure from theAssociation of American Publishers, threatens to strangle access to health research to protect the interests of a few greedy corporations – it would keep crucial, life-saving information from doctors and scientists who use it to take care of people and contribute to knowledge.
Library Groups and Open-Access Advocates Speak Out Against Bill
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog) – 1/26/12
A coalition of 10 library and open-access advocacy groups has issued a letter to Congress opposing HR 3699, the controversialResearch Works Act.
To create a sustainable, open research literature, governments need to find the finances to make it viable — and recognize that adding value to diversifying research outputs has its own costs
Nature – 1/25/12
The past week has seen several twists and turns along the road towards a truly open research literature. But the underlying questions have hardly been touched on: who needs whom to add what value to what literature, and who is willing to pay for it?
***Recommended Reading***
Should Research Be More Freely Available?
New York Times Op-Ed – 1/23/12
The journal has taken no position on theResearch Works Act, which would forbid government agencies from requiring that federally financed research be freely accessible online. We will continue to support the National Institutes of Health’s Public Access Policy.
Open Access vs. Local Politics
alandove (blog) – 1/23/12
I’m not entirely persuaded by the open access argument Eisen promotes, and I don’t think the open access movement is really about making research “free.” It’s mainly haggling over price and billing.
***Recommended Reading***
Who Gets to See Published Research?
Chronicle of Higher Ed – 1/22/12
The battle over public access to federally financed research is heating up again. The basic question is this: When taxpayers help pay for scholarly research, should those taxpayers get to see the results in the form of free access to the resulting journal articles?
***Recommended Reading***
The Research Works Act: Is It Time For a Rally to Restore Sanity?
The Scholarly Kitchen – 1/20/12
HR 3699,the Research Works Act, has drawn a line in the sand between open access advocates and commercial publishing houses. But where does that leave the not-for-profit publisher?
Guest Post: What Happens if We Call for a Boycott and No One Shows Up?
Scientific American (blog) – 1/18/12
Like many scientists, I've been thinking about the proposed “Research Works Act” (RWA) and its threat to public access of publicly paid for research.
Cracks Form in Anti-Open Access Push
Scientist – 1/18/12
It was not so surprising when last week theAssociation of American Publishers(AAP) came out in favor of the Research Works Act, which would roll back the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy.
Nature Publishing Group and Digital Science joint statement on Research Works Act
Press release – 1/18/12
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and Digital Science note the concern amongst the scientific and library communities about the Research Works Act (H.R. 3699), currently under consideration by the U.S. federal government, and wish to clarify our position.
AAAS Does Not Endorse the Research Works Act
Press release – 1/18/12
The nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, today reaffirmed its support for the current public access policy of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Scientists are urged to oppose new US legislation that will put studies behind a pay wall
British Medical Journal (subscription) – 1/17/12
The Research Works Act, although only 370 words in length, is the latest attempt by the Association of American Publishers, which represents scholarly and professional publications, to undo a 2008 policy adopted by the National Institutes of Health.
6. The 2011 PROSE Awards Luncheon to be Webcast Live on February 2nd
For the first time in PSP history, the 2011 PROSE Awards Luncheon will be webcast live from the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Visit http://www.proseawards.com/video.html from 12-1:30pm (ET) on Thursday, February 2nd to experience the dynamic, entertaining and engaging PROSE Awards Luncheon in real-time as the action unfolds. Highlights will include the premiere screening of Mapping the Slave Trade, a new short film featuring the 2010 PROSE R.R. Hawkins Award winner Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from Yale University Press; the debut of a multimedia presentation highlighting this year’s entries; the presentation of the five PROSE Awards for Excellence and the top PROSE prize, the R.R. Hawkins Award; and the Hawkins winner’s speech.
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PSP Contributing Staff:
Sara Pinto, Director
Kate Kolendo, Project Manager
John Tagler, Executive Director