Follow up on Boycotting Elsevier

Follow up on Boycotting Elsevier Publishing

The announcement of Iranian Ministry of Science and Higher Education regarding boycotting Elsevier publishing only mentioned that the decision was made براي مقابله به مثل without giving any details. But in the Iranian news media the reason given was that Elsevier had denied access to its data to two Iranian universities, Shahid Beheshti and Malek- Ashtar Universities.

Since I was involved in campaigns against boycotting the Iranian scientists by several US organizations in the last ten years, and because it was a serious decision to deny the Iranian scientists the right to publish the results of their research in more than 2000 Elsevier’ journals, I followed up to find out what was going on.

Here are the results:

1- Shahid Beheshti, the former Melli University, is a regular Iranian university. I was surprised by the claim that this university is on the sanction list.

2- Malek-Ashtar University that probably many of you have not even heard the name, is associated with the Iranian Ministry of Defense. It works on many military projects, including long range rockets like Shahab- 3, and is conducting Chemical and Biological research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malek-Ashtar_University_of_Technology

For this reason the European Union placed Malek-Ashtar University on its sanction list in 2008. So it was not a new development that Dr. Farhad Rahbar, the President of University of Tehran, and the Ministry of Science have mentioned.

3- I contacted Elsevier Publishing to find out if Shahid Beheshti University (DSB) is actually on its boycott list. I was not able to find any such ruling by Elsevier. Furthermore, DSB faculty members are saying that they have not received such a notice from Elsevier Publishing. Some of faculty members are even in the process of publishing new papers in Elsevier journals.

4- Sharif University of Technology has a scientific journal called “Iranica Scientia” that is also published by Elsevier!

5- The reasons leading to the decision to boycott the Elsevier Publishing and deny the Iranian university professors the right to publish in Elsevier’s journals are unclear.

6- The boycott announcement is not taken seriously by the Iranian academic community and the following messages below have been circulated among the professors.

7- Dr. Sia Nemat-Nasser, Professor at the University of California in San Diego and a graduate of the Engineering School of University of Tehran, sent the following poem called “When Scientific Progress Stopped”, inspired by the justification of Dr. Rahbar for boycott decision that said

ارايه مقالات علمي به بيگانگان به منزله ساخت قصر علمي بيگانگان توسط خشت هاي دانشمندان ايراني است كه اين بنا با  تحريم كردن دانشمندان كشور فرومي

ريزد

A Poem on the Occasion of Prohibiting
Iranian Scientists to Publish in Elsevier
Journals

When Scientific Progress Stopped

For decades the scientific world has thrived

Only because of the guidance men-of-the-cloak supplied

Now suddenly the progress of science has stopped

Since the export of its building-blocks is denied.

Sia Nemat-Nasser, October 23, 2011

One university professor writes:

 بنده عکس العمل همکاران دانشگاه و دانشجویان را به این خبر مشاهده می کردم و تقریبا بدون استثنا همه آن را به شوخی گرفتند و موضوعی برای لطیفه سرایی شد. شخصا فکر نمی کنم که این تصمیم اجرایی شود، با این وجود، مجموعه این اتفاقات بسیار نگران کننده است. چرا اظهارات رئیس دانشگاه تهران، به عنوان بزرگ ترین و قدیمی ترین دانشگاه ایران، این قدر پتانسیل به مسخره گرفته شدن از سوی بدنه دانشگاهی کشور را دارد؟ آیا ایشان واقعا اساتید دانشگاه خود را نمایندگی می کند؟ اگر این تصمیم واقعا تصمیم جمعی روسای کل دانشگاه ها و وزارت علوم باشد که باز وضعیت تاسف بار تر می شود.

اما آنچه در این خبر نگران کننده تر است تعبیر چاپ مقالات پژوهشگران ایرانی، به عنوان “ساخت قصر علمی بیگانگان توسط دانشمندان ایرانی” است. این در واقع به زیر سوال بردن یکی از بزرگ ترین دستاورد های بشر، یعی ایجاد عرف آزاد منشی علمی است که باعث شده است که علم هویتی جهانی پیدا کند و تمامی دانشمندان و پژوهشگران، مستقل از ملیت، با دست و دل بازی دانش تولید شده خود را در اختیار دیگران بگذارند و در ساخت بنای مشترک علمی که زیر بنای رشد علم و فناوری دنیا است مشارکت کنند. از قضا نقش ما در ساخت این بنا بسیار اندک است و ما بیشتر از ثمرات آن بهره مند هستیم. تصور کنید که طرز فکر غالب در کشور های دیگر هم مشابه نظرات رئیس دانشگاه تهران می بود، و آنها مانع رسیدن نتایج علمی خود به دیگران می شدند. اولین نتیجه آن احتمالا این بود که امروز دانشگاه تهرانی وجود نداشت و ما در همان سیستم مکتب خانه ای قدیم گرفتار مانده بودیم.

Another one writes:

 “This is obviously a bad reaction to a non scientific action by Elsevier.

In the last 6 years or so we have faced such actions and were always able to resolve it by properly raising the issue in media, questioning the people in charge, etc.

I remember once the American chemical society (ACS) expelled all its Iranian members in 2007.

Dr Fredun Hojabri (ex-president of SUTA) did made an active campaign against it and this worked after a month or so of actively pressuring ACS.“

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 Actions taken regarding Elsevier boycott