In a unique contract Kluwer Academic Publishers and the Library Wageningen UR have agreed to cooperate in publishing the results of the Frontis Workshops of Wageningen UR. The Library takes care of the freely accessible publications on internet, Kluwer handles the print editions on a commercial basis. The authors keep all non-commercial rights to their own publications.
Several times a year Frontis - Wageningen International Nucleus for Strategic Expertise organizes closed meetings of leading scientists in a certain scientific field. The sessions are in the forefront of science and characterized by an interactive and open amicable atmosphere. They result in ground breaking publications and a concluding article written by the host of the meeting, usually a Wageningen scientist. In addition, Frontis organizes long-term study leaves in Wageningen for foreign scientists so-called sabbaticals or visiting lectureships that can also lead to publications, like a book or several articles. The first Frontis-publications will be books that are the result of the Workshops New approaches to food-safety economics, New dimensions of the European landscape and Ecology of transgenic mosquitoes.
In its ambition to make the scientific publications quickly and widely available Wageningen UR has asked its library to use the digital display WaSP - Wageningen Scholarly Publishing for allowing internet access to the theses, reports and (as far as publishers permit) the journal articles of Wageningen UR. The Frontis-publications, too, are offered through WaSP. However, there was also demand for a prestigious printed edition of the Frontis-series and Kluwer is ideally suited to provide this. The groundbreaking aspect of the contract now signed is the conciliation of the freely accessible internet with the world of commercial publishing. Both parties will promote each others publications and expect a win-win situation.
Another special feature of the contract is the fact that the authors transfer only part of their copyright to Kluwer and the Library. They keep all rights for non-commercial use of their publications. This enables them to freely use their own material for education or scientific communication, both in print and digitally. With this agreement Kluwer moves into the vanguard of the liberalization in the transfer of copyrights.
On March 4 the new WaSP-site will be officially opened by prof. dr. Aalt Dijkhuizen, Chairman of the Raad van Bestuur of Wageningen UR. To mark the opening of the site, Wageningen UR organizes an Authors' Day, giving all scientific authors of Wageningen an overview of the possibilities of e-publishing and the role of Wageningen UR. Please visit http://library.wur.nl/schrijversdag/ for more information.
NOTE FOR THE EDITORS
For more information contact Leo Waaijers, Librarian of Wageningen University & Research Centre, tel. +31 317 482005, e-mail leo.waaijers@wur.nl
Handled by: Communications Office, Wageningen UR, Jac Niessen, tel. +31 317 485003
You can also send a mail to the Communications Office: pers.communicatie@wur.nl