Embargo (academic publishing)
In academic publishing, an embargo is a period during which access is not allowed to certain types of users. The purpose of this is to protect the revenue of the publisher.
Various types exist:
- A moving wall is a fixed period of months or years. (See below.)
- A fixed date is a particular time point that does not change.
- A current year (or other period) is setting a time point on Jan. 1 of the current year, so that all material earlier than that is available. Though fixed during the year, it will change each year.
Purpose
There are various purposes:
- In delayed open access, the embargo separates the most recent period, for which a subscription is needed, from an older period, where a subscription is not needed and anyone may access the article. This is usually between 2 months and 5 years.
- In full-text databases, such as those of EBSCO Publishing or Proquest, it separates the most recent period, where only a title or abstract is available, from an older one, which is openly accessible. It also separates the relatively recent period for which sometimes only a low-quality copy, such as ASCII is available, from an older one, which may have higher quality versions, such as PDF.
Moving wall
In academic publishing, a moving wall is the time period between the last issue of an academic journal available in a given online database and the most recently published print issue of a journal. It is specified by publishers in their license agreements with databases (like JSTOR), and generally ranges from several months to several years. It is generally considered frustrating to academic researchers who rely on current publications to further their work. In essence, the publisher's embargo stifles academic creativity and intellectual progress.
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