Thursday, July 21, 2005

New Open Access Copyright Journal

Larry Lessig and Michael Geist have launched a new open access journal on copyright. Good idea. From the website:

Copyright, a new peer-reviewed journal led by a renowned editorial team, seeks papers on all aspects of copyright in the Internet age. The journal features an extremely rapid review and publication time while maintaining rigorous standards on the quality of work. Every effort will be made to have the initial reviewers' decision within two weeks of submission. The journal focuses on detailed research and case studies vetted by peer-review; opinion pieces and shorter communications are also invited and will be accepted at the editors' discression.

Copyright is structured to be a new type of journal, not just a place to publish ideas but a locus to generate them--vital in an area of academic interest largely composed of subdisciplines of other fields. For instance, while the majority of articles will still be published in the traditional fashion, a novel, collaborative approach has been implemented as well. Potential authors can simply begin contributing to such an article while the system tracks the individuals' contributions. The article is then submitted through the normal review process and, if accepted, authorship is assigned based on the tracked contributions as the last step of the review process.

Copyright is particularly interested in publishing interdisciplinary works and works not normally considered within the purview of such a journal, such as those covering social and political impact of copyright. The journal also encourages lay participation through community projects.

Copyright seeks articles on all topics related to copyright, including:
Digital Rights Management
Quantitative studies of the effects of legislation
Scholarly communication and Open Access
Peer-to-peer networks
International copyright
Collaborative authorship
Blogs and other new media
Collaborative filtering
Copyright in developing nations
Social implications of copyright
This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Indeed, high-quality papers relating to any aspect of copyright are welcome.

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