Grants/Facilitating Access to Scientific Publications
Describe the project you are proposing as clearly as possible in just five sentences.
The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic basis for promoting access to scientific publications and research findings. The study will identify legal barriers on access to scientific resources and provide a coherent legal policy to be adopted by various policy makers in Israel. Among other things we would like to develop an Israeli Scholar’s Copyright Addendum Engine (SCAE), like the one in the CC Scholar's project which assists scholars who wish to retain rights over. The development of such an engine will require identifying relevant contracts for Hebrew publications, and provide the legal analysis necessary to ensure that such addenda will be legally valid in Israel.
Detail the tangible project output (e.g., paper, blog post, written materials, video/film, etc.; this would be in addition to the final written report that successful grant recipients will be expected to deliver to CC at the conclusion of the project).
The project will provide a policy paper and Israeli Scholar’s Copyright Addendum Engine CC scholar licenses that is consistent with Open Access objective and current laws. The policy paper will articulate the significance of facilitating access to scientific publications, will identify the legal impediments on access, and offer strategies to overcome these impediments.
Describe the community you are targeting. How would the project benefit the community?
The position paper would benefit scholars, universities, research institutions and policy makers in facilitating access to scientific publications. The addendum's engine will enable scientists and scholars to reserve their rights to make available their publications in Hebrew.br />
CC Israel is working under the endorsement of HCLT in Haifa University, Faculty of Law.
The Haifa Center for Law and Technology (HCLT) is a renowned interdisciplinary research. It is the first and the only center in Israel dedicated to the study of the interconnection between law and technology. HCLT is based at the Faculty of Law, University of Haifa on the northern coast of Israel. The main goal of the center is to promote research activities in the fields of Law and Technology and Intellectual Property. HCLT further seeks to promote dialogue between academics, innovators, policymakers and businesses, to establish the scientific foundation for lawmaking to address new technologies.
How will you measure and evaluate your project’s impact - on your main participants? Other contributors? On the larger community?
The addendum engine will provide measures on actual usage. We will also measure website traffic. We expect to see the adoption of the position paper inside Israeli universities as their own policy and IP legal agenda.
How many participants do you expect to be involved in your project? How will you seek and sustain their involvement?
We expect 2-4 legal scholars and students to be involved in the project in HCLT. Most of the grant will be devoted to scholarships for students to support their involvement in the study.
Describe how your project will benefit Creative Commons' mission to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in "the commons".
The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic framework for designing legal policies to promote access to scientific knowledge. The study will provide proposed guidelines for policymakers and academic institutions alike. Thus, it carries significant practical implications for science policy and may assist in supporting the scientific commons The goal of the proposed research is to facilitate open science and open access in Israel and to facilitate the sharing of scientific knowledge, while addressing the unique characteristics of academic research and R&D activities in Israel.
Describe what technologies and tools your project will use. What kinds of technical skills and expertise do you bring to the project? What are your technical needs?
The technical needs are - the expertise to build a web addendum engine
What challenges do you expect to face, and how do you plan to overcome them?
The study requires advanced skills in comparative legal analysis and an intimate understanding of open access strategies. The team will consist of skilled students, with the relevant academic background, and hands-on experienced, supervised by faculty members expert in this area.
How do you plan to sustain your project after the Creative Commons funding has ended? Detail specific plans. How do you plan to raise revenue to continue your efforts in the future?
Additional grant applications will be submitted to local and international foundations to support this project.
How can this project be scalable, or have a scalable impact?
The legal analysis and policy recommendations generated by this project may provide a basis for designing similar policies in other countries.
What resources and support do you expect Creative Commons to provide to your project to ensure its success (if any)?
We hope to use CC resources for details related to CC Scholar project. Also, we hope that CC will consider adopting our findings on open access to scientific publications and recommendations in the policy paper as part of its formal policy.
Describe how your organization currently communicates with its community members and network partners. (100 words)
CC Israel is working under the endorsement of HCLT. It is using the facilities of Haifa University and the members in CC Israel are students of the university. CC Israel operates its own independent website for the purpose of communicating with the community of activists and affiliates in Israel. HCLT scholars and students are participating in CC Israel activities since 2004 and keep on doing so. CC Israel keeps in touch with its former project leaders via email and in conferences or meetings.
Legal
Yes
