Guidance - Publication of Articles written by Ministers and Civil Servants in Journals and Conference Proceedings
Introduction
We aim to provide a fast and streamlined process to enable journal publishers and others to publish articles produced by ministers and civil servants with the minimum of administration. The same process can be used for the publication of articles in seminar and conference proceedings. The authors will, in most cases, be either a minister or a civil servant.
This replaces the guidance on the arrangements for the publication of scientific, technical and medical papers and articles that was set out in HMSO’s Guidance Note 2 which is now deleted.
What is covered?
This covers the circumstances where:
- a government department or agency wishes to submit an article for publication in a journal or similar publication;
- a publisher commissions an author to prepare an article for publication;
- a minister or a civil servant gives a presentation at a conference or seminar and the conference organiser wishes to publish the text of the presentation in the conference proceedings.
In the vast majority of cases the article in question would not have been previously published. All subsequent re-use would be covered under the terms of a Click-Use Licence for the re-use of core material.
It does not cover re-use of departmental logos and the Royal Arms.
What is the Process?
Before the article is published you must ensure that:
a) you have obtained the author’s consent. In the case of an article written by a minister, consent can be given by the appropriate Minister’s Private Office; and
b) the head of the department or division concerned also confirms that the article is consistent with departmental policy and may be published. For an article written by a minister, clearance from the Minister’s Private Office will suffice.
We have designed a form that can be used for obtaining the appropriate clearance.
What you are allowed to do?
You are allowed to:
- publish the article in any format throughout the world on a non-exclusive basis for a period of up to twelve months from the time you receive the clearance from the author and his/her parent department;
- sub-license your customers to access the articles in the context of digital products and services;
- authorise the inclusion of the articles in collective licensing schemes such as that operated by the Copyright Licensing Agency;
- authorise the articles to be included as part of document delivery, abstracting and indexing services;
What do you need to do?
You may publish articles provided that:
- you obtain the consent of the author and the Head of Department, or Agency Chief Executive;
- you acknowledge the author, the originating department and the copyright in the following form: The article [Title] was written by [Name author(s)] of [Name department(s)]. It is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
- they are not published for the purpose of advertising or promoting a particular product or service;
- you reproduce them accurately and do not amend the articles without obtaining the author’s approval.
You should also send one copy of the journal to the author on publication.