Open-access policy statements by learned societies and professional associations

This list is part of the Open Access Directory.


 * Here we are collecting policy statements on how academic authors, journals, and publishers should treat the opportunities created by the internet for free online access to research literature.
 * We will accept statements by learned societies and professional associations in any field, from any country, in any language, whether they are favorable or unfavorable to open access.
 * When possible, please provide dates.
 * Alphabetical by organization.


 * 1) American Anthropological Association. AAA offers its members free online access to a vast array of resources in anthropology, including datasets, photos, videos, and the full-text contents of all AAA journals.
 * 2) American Physical Society. The copyright transfer agreement the APS uses with its journals, allowing authors to post articles to eprint servers. February 2001.
 * 3) American Psychological Association. June 1, 2001.
 * 4) Association for Computing Machinery. See especially 1.1, 3.1, 5.1. This 1998 policy has been updated and supplemented by current rules for preprints.
 * 5) Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. The model "license to publish" that it recommends for use by society journals.
 * 6) European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM). The statement supports OA to texts and data and binds all ERCIM member organizations.
 * 7) Florida Entomological Society. The statement of its journal, Florida Entomologist.
 * 8) The Geological Society. The policy that applies to all of its journals.
 * 9) Higher Education Funding Council for England. This excerpt of the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise is the only part relevant to open access, and the only part still on the web.
 * 10) ICSU-UNESCO. ICSU = International Council for Science. UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
 * 11) Institute of Physics. See paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2.
 * 12) International Mathematical Union. Endorsement of "open access" as a goal for all mathematical literature (May 15, 2001). The IMU has also endorsed copyright advice for mathematicians; see especially point 3.c from the Executive Summary. Also see the IMU's short version of the Hodges checklist.
 * 13) International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. July 2001 Report of an IUPAP working group on scholarly communication. Recommendations, not yet policy. Also see the report on a subsequent November meeting which adopted steps toward the realization of the July recommendations.
 * 14) Medical Library Association. October 2003 statement of policy.
 * 15) Russian Society of BioPsychiatry. This is a news account of the statement, not the statement itself.