the physics
community has always been at the forefront of the creation and use of
electronic archives and electronic journals for the communication of scientific
results;
CERN has invented
the World-Wide Web, and has made important contributions to the development of
other Internet-based communication services;
CERN is a leading institution in science and promotes the role of science in the information society;
the cost of
traditional journals is constantly increasing and represents a great burden for
library budgets at CERN and other scientific institutions;
it is vital that
CERN establishes a policy that encourages, by all possible means, the
development and usage of electronic publishing methods, while respecting the
responsibility and the freedom of choice of individual authors.
We therefore
propose that the following elements of an electronic publishing policy be
adopted:
All CERN
Scientific Documents that are submitted to the CERN library should also be
submitted to the relevant e-archive. Moreover, CERN should support and
encourage the extension of electronic publishing wherever possible to include,
for example, conference proceedings.
CERN should
support and encourage publishing in low-cost, easily accessible electronic
journals. The choice of a journal for publication should take into account the
publication costs and the subscription policy of the journal. Physics
collaborations and authors in general should ensure that a sizeable fraction of
their papers is published in such journals.
In selection
boards for positions at CERN, the same a
priori relevance that is attributed to refereed articles in traditional
journals should be equally given to refereed articles in electronic journals.
CERN should encourage the implementation of similar policies in the scientific
community at large.