According to trends traced in this article, as of September 30 2003, editing the work of authors living in certain countries can be criminal for US publishers - punishable by fines of up to a half-million dollars or jail terms as long as 10 years: "In a move that pits national security concerns against academic freedom and the international flow of information, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control recently declared that American publishers cannot edit works authored in nations under trade embargoes. Although publishing the articles is legal, editing is a "service" and it is illegal to perform services for embargoed nations, the agency has ruled." The 5 embargoed nations include Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, and Cuba.
The article includes commentary from those in the publishing industry who are impacted by the ruling, such as Robert Bovenschulte, president of the American Chemical Society's publications division. 60% of the 24,000 articles the Society publishes each year are submitted from foreign nations. In Bovenschulte's estimation, "By not publishing articles coming from the five countries under trade embargo, we were, in effect, in violation of our own ethical guidelines that say that the basis for deciding what to publish is the quality of the science in the material and excludes the national origin of that material," Bovenschulte said. The Society opted to risk prosecution to edit papers submitted by authors in embargoed countries: "If the government decides to prosecute", he said, "I think we are going to be in good company."
In contrast, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has applied for a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control that would allow them legally to edit the pieces. While awaiting the ruling, IEEE is accepting papers from Iranian engineers and engineering students, but will not offer them for peer review or edit them - a decision that this article characterises as, in effect, meaning they cannot get published. (For more on the IEEE's position on this issue, click here [1]). "Faculty members have to publish the results of their research to be known, to be promoted," said Fredun Hojabri, an Iranian-born chemist living in San Diego, California (USA). "And there are more than 1,000 engineering graduate students who must publish the results of their research to graduate."
In a statement issued on February 20 2004, President Bush's science adviser, John H. Marburger III, indicated unease with the regulations. He claimed to support "the use of economic sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism," but added, "I'm concerned about the impact interpretations of such sanctions may have on scientific publishing and, therefore, scientific openness."
Click here [2] for the full article.
Source
This article appeared on February 21 2004 in Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Los Angeles Times. A link to the Hi Pakistan version was posted to the Copyediting List Serv (CEL) dated Feb 23 2004 (click here [3] for the archives).
February 2004
According to trends traced in this article, as of September 30 2003, editing the work of authors living in certain countries can be criminal for US publishers - punishable by fines of up to a half-million dollars or jail terms as long as 10 years: "In a move that pits national security concerns against academic freedom and the international flow of information, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control recently declared that American publishers cannot edit works authored in nations under trade embargoes. Although publishing the articles is legal, editing is a "service" and it is illegal to perform services for embargoed nations, the agency has ruled." The 5 embargoed nations include Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, and Cuba.
The article includes commentary from those in the publishing industry who are impacted by the ruling, such as Robert Bovenschulte, president of the American Chemical Society's publications division. 60% of the 24,000 articles the Society publishes each year are submitted from foreign nations. In Bovenschulte's estimation, "By not publishing articles coming from the five countries under trade embargo, we were, in effect, in violation of our own ethical guidelines that say that the basis for deciding what to publish is the quality of the science in the material and excludes the national origin of that material," Bovenschulte said. The Society opted to risk prosecution to edit papers submitted by authors in embargoed countries: "If the government decides to prosecute", he said, "I think we are going to be in good company."
In contrast, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has applied for a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control that would allow them legally to edit the pieces. While awaiting the ruling, IEEE is accepting papers from Iranian engineers and engineering students, but will not offer them for peer review or edit them - a decision that this article characterises as, in effect, meaning they cannot get published. (For more on the IEEE's position on this issue, click here). "Faculty members have to publish the results of their research to be known, to be promoted," said Fredun Hojabri, an Iranian-born chemist living in San Diego, California (USA). "And there are more than 1,000 engineering graduate students who must publish the results of their research to graduate."
In a statement issued on February 20 2004, President Bush's science adviser, John H. Marburger III, indicated unease with the regulations. He claimed to support "the use of economic sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism," but added, "I'm concerned about the impact interpretations of such sanctions may have on scientific publishing and, therefore, scientific openness."
Click here for the full article.
Source
This article appeared on February 21 2004 in Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Los Angeles Times. A link to the Hi Pakistan version was posted to the Copyediting List Serv (CEL) dated Feb 23 2004 (click here for the archives).