Canadian Association of University Teachers

 
Home > CAUT Policies > General CAUT Policies > Scholarly Communication

CAUT Policies

Policy Statement on Scholarly Communication

The commercial use of digital publication technologies, together with rapid price escalations in scholarly journal subscription rates, have adversely affected access to scholarly information. The public domain of knowledge is rapidly disappearing, bringing the work of the academy under the control of commercial interests. Digital technologies allow commercial publishers the practical ability to limit both access to and use of scholarly materials after they have been published.

Such control threatens the exercise of academic freedom, by restricting the dissemination and discussion of scholarly research. The common good of society depends upon the search for knowledge and truth and its free expression. Therefore:

1. Scholarly interchange is a public good that should not be limited by commercial interests.

2. Scholars should retain their initial copyright and when disseminating the results of research, should critically examine publishing arrangements that require the surrender of exclusive copyright.

3. Members of the academy, including both faculty and librarians, should work together to establish credible non-commercial fora, within which to accomplish the peer review and distribution of research.

4. Scholars should seek constructive uses of digital technology that promote the non-commercial distribution of scholarly reporting.

5. Appointment, promotion and tenure committees, as well as external granting agencies, should recognize non-commercial and digital publications in the evaluation of the work of an academic staff member.

Approved by the CAUT Council, May 2004.