[GOAL] Call for applications - International Open Access Advisory Group

Guédon Jean-Claude jean.claude.guedon at umontreal.ca
Fri Sep 13 16:03:27 BST 2019 

Dear Rob,

I found the NDA exactly where you pointed us, and this is not the issue here. The issue is that you yourself thought that a NDA might be contentious, but refrained from explicitly pointing out this clause to potential advisory-board candidates identified through a list largely devoted to OA issues. I assume you thought it best to treat it in as quiet a manner as possible, and see what would happen. Well, you can now see what is happening: the lessons of OA history have made OA advocates extremely vigilant.

That the use of NDAs is "well -established" is not in question either. However, the "well-established" nature of a process does not guarantee its legitimacy. The garbage pile of history is replete with processes that were well-established once...

In my own experience, academics are always ready for full and frank discussions; after all, they publish what they find, and that is the very point of publishing: full and frank discussions with peers! It is the other discussion "partners" that do not want transparency in order to have "full and frank discussions"... One may wonder why, especially in the case of an organisation such as CCC that does not appear to worry about competition very much. What is there to hide? Is this the result of a knee-jerk reaction by some lawyer focused on risk management?

As for the principle of "mutuality", I simply do not understand what it means and I invite you to clarify this opaque phrasing. I must confess, however, that the phrase bears a nice sound, but noting this is equivalent to pointing out its rhetorical intent. What of the substance?

Best,

Jean-Claude Guédon

On 2019-09-13 6:49 a.m., Rob Johnson wrote:
Dear Jean-Claude,
The NDA is mentioned quite explicitly in both the press release ( http://www.copyright.com/publishers/international-open-access-research-advisory-group/), and the application form (https://www.surveygizmo.eu/s3/90158934/OA-Advisory-Panel), to which I referred people in my email below, so I don’t believe that there is a lack of transparency here.

In my experience the use of NDAs is well-established in cases where academics engage with non-academic stakeholders, and can enable more full and frank discussions than might otherwise be possible. A principle of mutuality would naturally apply, so I don’t believe this should be dismissed out of hand. Nevertheless, the aim of this whole process is for CCC to secure wider input from other stakeholders, so I will take this point back to them and keep you updated.
Best wishes,

Rob

From: goal-bounces at eprints.org<mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org> <goal-bounces at eprints.org><mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org> On Behalf Of Guédon Jean-Claude
Sent: 12 September 2019 22:00
To: goal at eprints.org<mailto:goal at eprints.org>
Subject: Re: [GOAL] Call for applications - International Open Access Advisory Group

It seems to me, Rob, that if you were aware that it "might be contentious" (!!!!), you might have also considered mentioning the fact, if only for the sake of honest transparency... Practising some analog of the caveat emptor philosophy in the field of copyright is not a good starting point.

Jean-Claude Guédon
On 2019-09-12 2:20 p.m., Rob Johnson wrote:
Dear Jean-Claude, Heather,
In haste, but thanks for flagging the concern on the NDA clause, I was aware this might be contentious, and will feed this back.

Certainly there are similar transparency requirements in the UK to those you describe in Ontario, including freedom of information requests and disclosure of salary information on high earners. These tend to apply to public bodies and charities, including higher education institutions, but the extent to which these are cascaded down to commercial entities is variable, and generally a matter of contract law rather statute or regulation. That said, expectations of greater transparency are well-established in other sectors where commercial actors provide public services, and/or where there is not a well-functioning market. As far as I’m aware there’s no fundamental reason why this couldn’t be extended to academic publishing if it’s deemed to be in the public interest to do so, it just hasn’t happened to date.

Best wishes,

Rob

From: goal-bounces at eprints.org<mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org> <goal-bounces at eprints.org><mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org> On Behalf Of Heather Morrison
Sent: 12 September 2019 18:09
To: Global Open Access List (Successor of AmSci) <goal at eprints.org><mailto:goal at eprints.org>
Subject: Re: [GOAL] Call for applications - International Open Access Advisory Group

Thank you for pointing out the NDA clause, Jean-Claude.

Copyright collectives such as CCC lobby for legislation that in effect directs $ to their members. At least this is the case in Canada where local copyright collectives believe they should have a legal right to demand that blanket licensing be a legal requirement for all educational institutions and to unilaterally set the price and conditions.

Transparency should be (and generally is) a requirement for any organization that wishes to benefit from public funding. In Ontario, this even applies to individuals. By law, the salary of anyone earning more than $100,000 in a public institution is publicly disclosed on an annual basis. Universities and government in Canada operate under Access to Information / Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. Information is open by default, whether published or available by request; non-disclosure is an option only under very specific, limited circumstances such as when it is necessary to protect the legitimate privacy rights of individuals.

It would be interesting to hear about laws and expectations in other countries if list members have time and knowledge to report. Are organizations in your area allowed to accept $ that comes from public funding and keep this a secret?

If CCC would like to interact with the open access movement, removing the NDA clause would be a good start.

If there are good reasons for using CCC to transfer $ to certain publishers then it would be helpful to understand what they are. It would be appropriate to publish the details. If publishers do not wish to disclose this kind of information, refraining from participation in copyright collectives like CCC and their lobbying efforts is a choice that is available to them, and one that I recommend.

I can think of one good reason for discussing the use of a collective to transfer $ to open access publishers. Commercial downstream users such as Elsevier (Scopus) and other aggregators (e.g. EBSCO) could be required to transfer $ to journals that do not choose to grant blanket downstream commercial rights. I am not advocating that this happen, rather stating that this should be up for discussion so that everyone involved can have a better understanding of the underlying issues and perhaps come up with better solutions. This discussion would be most likely to be fruitful if held in public where all parties can follow and participate.

best,


Dr. Heather Morrison

Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, University of Ottawa

Professeur Agrégé, École des Sciences de l'Information, Université d'Ottawa

Principal Investigator, Sustaining the Knowledge Commons, a SSHRC Insight Project

sustainingknowledgecommons.org

Heather.Morrison at uottawa.ca<mailto:Heather.Morrison at uottawa.ca>

https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/?lang=en#/members/706

[On research sabbatical July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020]

________________________________
From: goal-bounces at eprints.org<mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org> <goal-bounces at eprints.org<mailto:goal-bounces at eprints.org>> on behalf of Guédon Jean-Claude <jean.claude.guedon at umontreal.ca<mailto:jean.claude.guedon at umontreal.ca>>
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2019 11:34 AM
To: goal at eprints.org<mailto:goal at eprints.org> <goal at eprints.org<mailto:goal at eprints.org>>
Subject: Re: [GOAL] Call for applications - International Open Access Advisory Group

Attention : courriel externe | external email
I just would like to attract the attention of the readers of this group to the last line of the first screen of the application form (https://www.surveygizmo.eu/s3/90158934/OA-Advisory-Panel).

It simply says:  Some of the work carried out as part of this Group will be confidential. Therefore, you would be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) should you be selected to participate.

My!!! my!!!!

Jean-Claude Guédon

On 2019-09-11 2:59 a.m., Rob Johnson wrote:

Dear all (with apologies for cross-posting),



Copyright Clearance Centre<http://www.copyright.com/> (CCC) is seeking research professionals, including researchers, librarians and research funders, with experience in defining, using or implementing OA publication and science policy to participate in a new, volunteer international Advisory Group that will work with CCC staff to identify pragmatic solutions to the pressing and evolving issues facing the research community today. This Advisory Group is one of the many ways CCC is looking to gain input from different stakeholders in the scholarly communications ecosystem.



Advisory Group participants will advise on themes and concepts central to the open scholarly communication debates. The Group’s work will give participants an opportunity to establish and grow their network and engage in regular discussion with emerging leaders in the research and publishing communities. Participation in this Advisory Group will offer participants the opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership within their respective institution or organization. For further information please see the press release at: http://www.copyright.com/publishers/international-open-access-research-advisory-group/.



We’re working with CCC to put the group together and ensure it represents a diverse mix of viewpoints from across the research community. Please do consider applying, and feel free to drop me a line with any questions you may have.



The deadline for applications is Monday 30th September 2019, and the application form can be found here: https://www.surveygizmo.eu/s3/90158934/OA-Advisory-Panel.



Best wishes,



Rob



Rob Johnson

Director



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