[GOAL] Re: Please distinguish what is and is not relevant to mandating Green OA self-archiving

[Stevan Harnad]

> 1. Mandatory Green OA self-archiving in Stevan's meaning is fine
> for the disciplines to which it applies;

It applies to (the refereed journal articles of) *all* disciplines: No exceptions.

> 2. Other tactics are also fine, in particular some flavours of Gold
> (OA journal publishing), and again this depends on the disciplines
> and the situations;

Paying for Gold without first mandating Green is always not-fine.

But once Green has been effectively mandated, spare cash can be 
spent ad libitum.

> 3. Pursuing OA with tactics that amount to leaving most HSS disciplines
> aside is not acceptable, even when presented as a first step.

Green OA self-archiving of all journal articles first needs to be mandated, 
by all institutions and funders, in all disciplines (ID/OA).

That done, nolo contender about further steps.

> 4. Books can be self-archived, even if it be limited to a dark archive.

Definitely! Books can be deposited in institutional repositories as
Closed Access deposits.

> The same issue exists with articles when publishers refuse self-archiving,
> or require a long embargo.

The crucial and consequential differences being that: 

(1) all article authors (but not all book authors -- perhaps even far from all book authors) 
will want to use the repository's reprint-request Button to provide a free copy to all
individual requesters. 

and 

(2) all article authors (but not all book authors -- perhaps even far from all book authors) 
will want the OA embargo to be none, or as short as possible.

Stevan Harnad