On April 30, 2015, Elsevier announced a new sharing and hosting policy for Elsevier journal articles. This policy represents a significant obstacle to the dissemination and use of research knowledge, and creates unnecessary barriers for Elsevier published authors in complying with funders’ open access policies. In addition, the policy has been adopted without any evidence that immediate sharing of articles has a negative impact on publishers subscriptions.

Despite the claim by Elsevier that the policy advances sharing, it actually does the opposite. The policy imposes unacceptably long embargo periods of up to 48 months for some journals. It also requires authors to apply a “non-commercial and no derivative works” license for each article deposited into a repository, greatly inhibiting the re-use value of these articles. Any delay in the open availability of research articles curtails scientific progress and places unnecessary constraints on delivering the benefits of research back to the public.

Furthermore, the policy applies to “all articles previously published and those published in the future” making it even more punitive for both authors and institutions. This may also lead to articles that are currently available being suddenly embargoed and inaccessible to readers.

As organizations committed to the principle that access to information advances discovery, accelerates innovation and improves education, we support the adoption of policies and practices that enable the immediate, barrier free access to and reuse of scholarly articles. This policy is in direct conflict with the global trend towards open access and serves only to dilute the benefits of openly sharing research results.

We strongly urge Elsevier to reconsider this policy and we encourage other organizations and individuals to express their opinions.

***scroll down for signing the statement*** 

Organisational Signatories 

1. COAR: Confederation of Open Access Repositories
2. SPARC: Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
3. ACRL: Association of College and Research Libraries
4. ALA: American Library Association
5. ARL: Association of Research Libraries
6. ASERL: Association of Southeastern Research Libraries
7. AOASG: Australian Open Access Support Group
8. IBICT: Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology
9. CARL: Canadian Association of Research Libraries
10. CLACSO: Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales
11. COAPI: Coalition of Open Access Policy Institutions
12. Creative Commons
13. Creative Commons, USA
14. Creative Commons, Australia
15. EIFL: Electronic Information for Libraries
16. EFF: Electronic Frontier Foundation
17. GWLA: Greater Western Library Alliance
18. LIBER: European Research Library Association
19. National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences
20. OpenAIRE
21. Open Data Hong Kong
22. RLUK: Research Libraries UK
23. SANLiC: South African National Licensing Consortium
24. University of St Andrews Library
25. ANKOS OAIRWG: Anatolian University libraries Consortium. OAIR working Group
26. University West, Sweden
27. DLF: Digital Library Federation, USA

     

     

28. ELibUkr, Ukraine
29. Open Access Network, USA
30. AusGOAL: Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Programme
31. Redalyc.org, Mexico 

     

     

32. National Research Foundation of South Africa
33. Open Book Publishers, United Kingdom
34. Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti, Portugal
35. Library of the Hospital Prof. Dr. Fernando Fonseca, EPE, Lisbon, Portugal
36. SLA: Special Libraries Association
37. OhioLINK, Columbus, USA
38. Library of the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal

     

     

39. DOAJ
40. dbv: German Library Association, Germany
41. SCONUL: Society of College, National and University Libraries, UK
42. bepress, Berkeley, USA
43. SPARC Europe
44. Paperity, Warsaw, Poland
45. University of Technology Sydney Library, Australia
46. CAUL: Council of Australian University Librarians
47. European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA)
48. The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship, London, UK
49. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA

     

     

50. Institutional Repositories Promotion Committee, Japan
51. University of California Libraries, USA

    UC Berkeley Library

    UC Davis Library

    UC Irvine Libraries

    UCLA Library

    UC Merced Library

    UC Riverside Library

    UC San Diego Library

    UC San Francisco Library

    UC Santa Barbara Library

    UC Santa Cruz Library

    California Digital Library

52. medica spa @ cnr, Bologna, Italy
53. UNIPA – Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy
54. Biblioteca scuola politecnica-sede architettura Università di Genova, Italy
55. Cadernos Saúde Coletiva, Spain
56. Sardegna Ricerche, Italy
57. Biblioteca di Scienze geo-ambientali e planetarie, Italy
58. SUNYLA: State University of New York Librarians Association, USA
59. Canadian Library Association
60. Carnegie Mellon University, USA
61. DPLA: Digital Public Library of America
62. UFRJ: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
63. Orbis Cascade Alliance
64. Open Access India
65. ICSI: Information and Communication Society of India
66. SALIS: Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science, India
67. Associação Brasileira de Saúde Coletiva, Brasil
68. FCT: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
69. BAD – Portuguese Association of Librarians Archivists and Documentalists
70. USAIN: United States Agricultural Information Network
71. ENEA: Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
72. EUI: European University Institute Library
73. Policy Online, Australia
74. University of Liège, Belgium
75. Universita’ di Camerino, Biblioteca di Scienze, Italy
76. ANKOS:Anatolian University Libraries Consortium, Turkey
77. Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey
78. University of Pretoria Library Services, South Africa
79. CSIR: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
80. University College Cork, Ireland
81. Oberlin Group of LIbraries, USA
82. Cyprus University of Technology
83. Washington University in St. Louis Libraries
84. LIASA: Library and Information Association of South Africa
85. CONUL: Consortium of National & University Libraries, Ireland
86. Strathmore University Library, Kenya
87. COUPERIN.ORG, France
88. Pamukkale University Library Department, Turkey
89. Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi, Turkey
90. Karabuk University Library, Turkey
91. Mevlana University, Turkey
92. Adnan Menderes University, Turkey
93. Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
94. KCA University Library, Kenya
95. Library Association of Rijeka, Croatia
96. Iowa State University Library, USA
97. UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico
98. University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, USA
99. LITA: Library & Information Technology Association
100. The Library of the University of Latvia
101. Inonu University, Turkey
102. CHELSA : Committee for higher education librarians of South Africa
103. TRLN: Triangle Research Libraries Network, USA
     1. Duke University
     2. North Carolina Central University
     3. North Carolina State University
     4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
104. Florida State University Libraries, USA
105. Dept. of Information Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa
106. Library and Information Studies Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
107. Coimbra University Press, Portugal
108. SWALA: Swaziland Library & Information Association, Swaziland
109. TUBITAK ULAKBIM: Turkish Academic Network and Information Center
110. UCT Libraries, South Africa
111. Virginia Tech Libraries, USA
112. George Washington University Libraries
113. Metropolitan College of New York Library, USA
114. Portal de Periódicos Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil
115. Digital Repository Federation, Japan
116. Bibliothèque de recherche Mathématiques et Informatique de L’Université de Bordeaux, France
117. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
118. Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles, Belgium
119. Université de Liège, Belgium
120. Centre Spatial de Liège Université de Liège, Belgium
121. HEC-Management School University of Liege, Belgium
122. NAGPS: National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, USA
123. EMDOLA: European Master in oral laser applications, Belgium
124. Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil
125. Bours&Associés, Belgium
126. Centre Ginkgo, Belgium
127. Council for Finnish University Libraries
128. University of Tartu Library, Estonia
129. Rice University Library, USA
130. University of Michigan Library, USA
131. Texas A&M University, USA
132. Louisiana State University, USA
133. ALAO: Academic Library Association of Ohio, USA
134. Stony Brook University Libraries, USA
135. Herkimer College, USA
136. Wayne State University Libraries, USA
137. University of Colorado Boulder, USA
138. Temple University Libraries, USA
139. Colorado State University Libraries, USA
140. Ohio University, USA
141. Morrisville State College Library, USA
142. University of Texas Libraries, USA
143. MIT Libraries, USA
144. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine: Integrating Emergency Care with Population Health, USA
145. University of Aveiro, Portugal
146. SUNY Council of Library Directors, USA
147. IDS Project, USA
148. Karisma Foundation, Colombia
149. Thomas Jefferson University, USA
150. Fredonia, the State University of New York, USA
151. Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries, USA
152. Skidmore College, USA
153. Evans Library, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
154. Universitätsbibliothek Kaiserslautern, Germany
155. Portal de Periódicos UFSC, Brazil
156. Ontario Council of University Libraries, Canada
157. Belgian Science Policy Office
158. University of Pittsburgh, USA
159. University of Iowa Libraries, USA
160. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium
161. Belgian Scientific Institute of Public Health
162. PLOS: Public Library of Science
163. Centro Brasileiro de Estudos de Saúde (Cebes), Brazil
164. Librarianship Critique journal — revista Critica Bibliotecologica, Mexico
165. Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE)
166. Lib4RI – Library for the Research Institutes within the ETH Domain: Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL, Switzerland
167. University of Antwerp, Library, Belgium
168. Welch Medical Library – Johns Hopkins University, USA
169. JULAC: Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee, Hong Kong
170. The Danish Research Library Director’s Conference
171. Bibliotek i Samhälle, Uppsala, Sweden
172. RCSI: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
173. The Ohio State University Libraries, USA
174. University of Maryland Libraries, USA
175. University of Guelph, Canada
176. Vanderbilt University Libraries, USA
177. Texas Tech University Libraries, USA
178. University of Oklahoma Libraries, USA
179. University of South Carolina, USA
180. Michigan State University Libraries, USA
181. University of Minnesota Libraries, USA
182. Penn State Univ. Library, USA
183. Emory Libraries, USA
184. University of Delaware Library, USA
185. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, USA
186. Oklahoma State University Library, USA
187. University of Houston Libraries, USA
188. University at Albany Libraries, USA
189. University of Missouri – Columbia, USA
190. Boston College, USA
191. Tulane University, USA
192. University of Cincinnati, USA
193. University of New Mexico Libraries, USA
194. Cornell University LIbrary, USA
195. University of Tennessee Libraries, USA
196. University of Toronto Libraries, Canada
197. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
198. University Libraries, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
199. University of Massachusett Amherst Libraries, USA
200. GEConseil:Géologie Environnement Conseil, France
201. Sheridan Libraries & Museums – Johns Hopkins University, USA
202. Friedheim Music Library – Johns Hopkins University, USA
203. Johns Hopkins University Libraries – Johns Hopkins University, USA
204. Dartmouth College, USA
205. University of Miami Libraries, USA
206. Case Western Reserve University, Kelvin Smith Library, USA
207. Good Ancestor Foundation, USA
208. Eliashitte Fondation pour la Recherche Biblique, Mexico
209. Alliance for Networking Visual Culture, USA
210. University of Hawaii at Mānoa Library Services, USA
211. Handchirurgie Weltweit e.V., Germany
212. Asociación Latinoamericana de Análisis Cualitativo, Argentina
213. Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
214. Boston University Libraries, USA
215. University of Virginia Libraries, USA
216. University of Illinois at Chicago Library, USA
217. McGill University Library, Canada
218. Mason Library, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies — Johns Hopkins University, USA
219. University of Georgia Libraries, USA
220. Biblioteca del Instituto de Biologia UNAM, Mexico
221. M-Labs Limited, Hong Kong
222. University of Kentucky LIbraries, USA
223. University of Oregon Libraries, USA
224. ALCTS: Association for Collections and Technical Services, USA
225. CEAACP: Research Centre Archaeology, Arts and Heritage, University of Coimbra, Portugal
226. Bryn Mawr College, USA
227. Haverford College, USA
228. University of Rochester Libraries, USA
229. Open Knowledge Foundation
230. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brasil
231. Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège), Belgium
232. Universitätsbibliothek der TU München, Germany
233. CPCE Universidad Diego Portales, Chile
234. National Laboratory for Scientific Computing – LNCC, Brasil
235. Centre for Social Economy, University of Liege, Belgium
236. Universidad de Granada. Biblioteca, Spain
237. Sciences Po Library, France
238. Bibliothèque Médiathèque de Pully, Switzerland
239. ADBU: Association des Directeurs et des Personnels de Direction des Bibliothèques Universitaires et de la Documentation, France
240. University of Kansas Libraries, USA
241. REBIUN: Spanish Network of University Libraries
242. University of Ottawa Library, Canada
243. Dentistry Student Scientific Community, Indonesia
244. Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Poiarss, Portugal
245. LA Referencia
246. ASES Association des Sociologues Enseignants du Supérieur, France
247. Canadian Research Knowledge Network
248. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, USA
249. CNFG: Comité National Français de Géographie, France
250. Fundación Index, Spain
251. University of Arizona Libraries, USA
252. University of Tehran, Digital Preservation Lab, Iran
253. University of the Witwatersrand Libraries, South Africa
254. University of British Columbia Library, Canada
255. University of Minho, Portugal
256. DEFF: Denmark’s Electronic Research Library
257. Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
258. VU University Library, Netherlands
259. Manipal University, India
260. McMaster University Library, Canada
261. Universidad de Costa Rica
262. Consorcio Madroño
263. Singapore Management University

link:https://www.coar-repositories.org/activities/advocacy-leadership/petition-against-elseviers-sharing-policy/