PAMELA ZURER

Soon science will make its articles available for free on its website 12 months after they appear in print. The plan is the journal's response to a call from scientists that journal articles be made freely accessible via public online services within six months of publication.

An essay in last week's Science [291, 2318 (2001)] by Richard J. Roberts, research director of New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., and others argues that a free centralized public electronic archive of the scientific literature best serves the community. The essay's authors have signed an open letter in which they pledge that, as of September, they will only publish in, edit, review, or subscribe to journals that agree to unrestricted free distribution of their content (C&EN, Dec. 18, 2000, page 7). According to the website where the letter is posted (http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org/), more than 11,600 scientists have signed it.

In Science's response, the editors question whether a government-funded and -controlled archive is the best solution.

"The editors of Science have performed a valuable service by fairly summarizing the arguments on both sides of this controversial proposal," notes Robert D. Bovenschulte, the American Chemical Society's Publications Division director. "In particular, they have explained why the proposal troubles professional societies and their publishing operations.

"There are no easy answers," he continues. "Should government compete with the private sector via a central repository of all published science Should publishers relinquish control over their copyrighted works to a public agency whose policies may change unpredictably What in the future might be the effect of a budgetary squeeze or a political decision about some forms of research"

ACS has not yet decided what policy to adopt on providing access to its journal archives. "The complexity of the issue and its long-term implications necessitate careful review," Bovenschulte says. "Ultimately, ACS governance will make a judgment about what is best for science and the profession ofchemistry."

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