Open Law Journals Group



Introduction and Background

 While the number and variety of academic journals are increasing, the number of influential stakeholders in the field of academic publishing is decreasing.  Within this simultaneously crowded environment and narrowing group, we believe the role and value of open access online publishing (i.e.: journals which use the open access model of publishing) has been marginalised.  As such, a preliminary meeting was held at the University of Edinburgh in August 2009.  Attendees included represented the following journals:

The objectives of this meeting were to formalise a group to represent European open access journals and act as a means of communication and support between such journals.  This document offers a rationale for such a group and provides a list of basic principles which we hope can be used as the foundation for increased membership and activity.



Justification for an Open Law Group (OLG)

Publishing is becoming a more centralised activity relying on fewer but larger and more powerful operators.  We believe that authors’ rights are being undermined as publishers seek/demand the transfer of copyright and exclusive rights over authors’ works, despite the underlying academic work usually being funded by public sources.  The Open Access model of publishing allows the academic author to remain at the centre of the publishing enterprise, and allows the work to be accessible to as large a public as possible without barriers such as DRM and high access payments.

While the number of European open access journals which address the law has been growing, each journal has been isolated from the others (ie: there has been an absence of ‘community’).  The journals are thus usually operating on a shoestring while competing with commercial publishers who have large budgets.  It is unlikely that open access journals will ever have the budgets available to commercial publishers, so other means of providing support must be sought.  We believe that a more formal group with a clear remit will strengthen those working in the field as well as expand the field in a rational way that protects the interests of those (pioneers) already active.



Remit of the OLG

The OLG is intended to be a formal and expanding community which represents the interests of open access journals and the free utilisation of quality scholarship.  The advantages of the existence of such a group, and of membership in such a group, are myriad, as evidenced by the suggested remit of the OLG, which is to:

The actual structure and constitution of the OLG would be decided at a subsequent European Meeting to which all relevant journals will be invited.

 

Draft Principles of the OLG

The following principles are draft, the intention being to hold a meeting of interested journals currently publishing under the open access model so as to accept and/or amend the principles.  The principles are as follows:

1. Open Access:  The contents of any journal should be available on a free to access basis.  The contents should be usable by the public for non-commercial use without requiring permission for authors.

[Rationale: This is a basic statement of the open access model.  The inclusion of a ‘non-commercial use’ reference means that the journal and authors may also exert commercial rights if required.]

2. Authors Rights:  The author retains ownership and related rights subject to the individual journal’s licence and terms of use.

[Rationale: Open access does not require a transfer of ownership of copyright.]

3. User Rights: All journals must ensure that all authors and copyright holders grant to users a free irrevocable world wide perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly for non-commercial and/or educational purposes, subject to proper attribution of authorship and details of journal publication.

[Rationale: This outlines what in fact is meant by ‘open access’ in terms of non-commercial usage.]

4. Derivative Works: All journals will ensure that all authors and copyright holders grant to all users the right to make derivative works.  However, such grant may be subject to restrictions which protect the moral rights of authors and the interests of the journal.

[Rationale: Some members at the meeting felt strongly that the default position should be that works could be re-used as the basis of other works.  The restrictions to this default position would allow any journal to ignore it should it wish.]

5. Archiving of Contents: All journals should ensure that in case of ceasing publication, the contents of the journal should continue to remain on a free to access basis through one or more archiving systems such as SSRN.

[Rationale: Journals sometimes cease publication and therefore there is a formal requirement to ensure that the contents will be available post-cease of publication.]

6. Membership: Members of the group should be European publishers of law journals.

[Rationale: ‘European law’ is becoming more harmonised and comparative issues are important in non-harmonised areas, so that ‘European publishers’ offers a manageable group with common interests.]

7. Support: Members should support each other in technical issues related to the publication of open access materials through meetings, workshops and conferences. Such issues may include common standards and platforms.

[Rationale: Individual efforts in producing high quality on-line journals can be magnified when access to advice and technical help is available. We see this as a primary aim of the group.]

8. Promotion of Open Access Law Journals: Members should act to encourage the development of the open access model of law publishing.  This will include quality control, seeking funding for joint projects, encouraging cross readership, and promoting the advantages of open access to the academic community.

[Rationale: Rather than act as competitors to each other, we feel that open access model journals can benefit each other by acting in the interests of the open access methodology.]