SPEC Kit 332: Organization of Scholarly Communication Services · 161
Pennsylvania State University
Resolution to Endorse the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Statement on Publishing Agreements
http://www.senate.psu.edu/agenda/2007-2008/mar18-08agn/appd.pdf
www.cic.net
The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
STATEMENT ON PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS
The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) 1 is a consortium of 12 world-class American
research universities, advancing their missions by sharing expertise, leveraging campus
resources and collaborating on innovative programs. For 50 years, the CIC has created new
opportunities for member universities to work together toward greater efficiency, effectiveness
and impact. In 2006, the Provosts of the CIC member universities unanimously endorsed this
statement and addendum to publication agreements. Since that time, faculty governance of 9 CIC
campuses
2 have also endorsed the statement and addendum.
Publication is the lifeblood of a research university. It is incumbent upon faculty, campus administrators and
librarians to ensure the free flow of scholarly information in fulfillment of our campus missions to advance the
public good through research and education. Toward this end, our campuses are committed to supporting a
sustainable publication process and a healthy publishing industry. The “information revolution” has greatly
expanded the means for disseminating and utilizing scholarly discourse, but this opportunity for extending the
reach and impact of our campuses is countered by social and economic conventions of some sectors of the
publishing industry. Suitable publishing partners for academic enterprises should be encouraging the widest
possible dissemination of the academy’s work, and the management of copyright should be directed to
encouraging scholarly output rather than unnecessarily fettering its access and use. Without some important
changes in publishing practices, authors and readers will continue to be frustrated by barriers to the free flow of
information that is an essential characteristic of great research universities.
Faculty authors should consider a number of factors when choosing and interacting with publishers for their
works. The goal of publication should be to encourage widespread dissemination and impact the means for
accomplishing this will necessarily depend on the nature of the work in question, the author’s circumstances,
available suitable outlets, and expectations in the author’s field of inquiry. In general, authors are encouraged to
consider publishing strategies that will optimize short- and long-term access to their work, taking into account
such factors as affordability, efficient means for distribution, a secure third-party archiving strategy, and flexible
management of rights.
Protecting intellectual property rights is a particularly important consideration, as many authors unwittingly sign
away all control over their creative output. Toward this end, the CIC encourages contract language that ensures
that academic authors retain certain rights that facilitate archiving, instructional use, and sharing with colleagues
to advance discourse and discovery. Accompanying this document is a model CIC publishing addendum that
affirms the rights of authors to share their work in a variety of circumstances, including posting versions of the
work in institutional or disciplinary repositories. While the particular circumstances and terms governing
publication will vary on a case-by-case basis, the underlying principle of encouraging access to the creative
output of our campuses should inhere in all of our efforts.
1
The 12 CIC member universities are: University of Chicago University of Illinois Indiana University University of Iowa University of
Michigan Michigan State University University of Minnesota Northwestern University The Ohio State University Penn State University
Purdue University University of Wisconsin-Madison
2
As of November 7, 2007, faculty governance from the following CIC universities have endorsed the statement and addendum:
University of Illinois (both the Chicago and the Urbana-Champaign campuses) Indiana University University of Iowa, University of
Michigan Michigan State University University of Minnesota Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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