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Controversies[edit]

Open access[edit]

In debates about free access to scientific information, the ACS has been described as "in an interesting dilemma, with some of its representatives pushing for open access and others hating the very thought."[1] The ACS has generally opposed legislation that would mandate free access to scientific journal articles and chemical information, however it has recently launched new open access journals and provided authors with open access publishing options.

Journals[edit]

The mid-2000s saw a debate between some research funders (including the federal government), which argued that research they funded should be presented freely to the public,[2] and some publishers (including the ACS), which argued that the costs of peer-review and publishing justified their subscription prices.[3] In 2006, Congress debated legislation that would have instructed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to require all investigators it funded to submit copies of final, peer-reviewed journal articles to PubMed Central, a free-access digital repository it operates, within 12 months of publication.[4][5] At the time the American Association of Publishers (of which ACS is a member) hired a public relations firm to counter the open access movement.[6] In spite of publishers' opposition, the PubMed Central legislation was passed in December 2007 and became effective in 2008.[5][7]

As the open access issue has continued to evolve, so too has the ACS's position. In response to a 2013 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy directive that instructed federal agencies to provide greater access to federally funded research, the ACS joined other scholarly publishers in establishing the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States (Chorus) to allow free access to published articles.[8] The ACS has also introduced several open access publishing options for its journals, including providing authors the option to pay an upfront fee to enable free online access to their articles.[9] In 2015 the ACS launched the first fully open access journal in the society's history, ACS Central Science.[9] The ACS states that the journal offers the same peer-review standards as its subscription journals, but without publishing charges to either authors or readers.[10] A second open access title, ACS Omega, an interdisciplinary mega journal, launched in 2016.[11][12]

Databases[edit]

In 2005, the ACS was criticized for opposing the creation of PubChem, which is an open access chemical database developed by the NIH's National Center for Biotechnology Information. The ACS raised concerns that the publicly supported PubChem database would duplicate and unfairly compete with their existing fee-based Chemical Abstracts Service and argued that the database should only present data created by the Molecular Libraries Screening Center initiative of the NIH.[13][14]

The ACS lobbied members of the United States Congress to rein-in PubChem[15][16] and hired outside lobbying firms to try to persuade congressional members, the NIH, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) against establishing a publicly funded database.[17] The ACS was unsuccessful, and as of 2012 PubChem is the world's largest free chemical database.[18]

Litigation[edit]

As a major provider of chemistry related information, ACS has been involved with several legal cases over the past few decades that involve access to its databases, trademark rights, and intellectual property. These include Dialog v. American Chemical Society, a suit claiming antitrust violations in access to ACS databases, settled out of court in 1993[19][20]; American Chemical Society v. Google, a suit claiming trademark violation, settled out of court in 2006[21][22]; and American Chemical Society v. Leadscope, a suit alleging stolen trade secrets, concluded in 2012 with ACS losing its trade secrets claim and Leadscope losing its counterclaim of defamation.[23][24]

Executive compensation[edit]

In 2004, a group of ACS members criticized the compensation of former executive director and chief executive officer John Crum, whose total salary, expenses, and bonuses for 2002 was reported to be $767,834.[25] The ACS defended the figure, saying that it was in line with that of comparable organizations, including for-profit publishers.[26] When Madeleine Jacobs became executive director of the ACS in 2004 she reduced expenditures on travel, hotel expenses, and chauffeurs, moves that earned her praise as a judicious spender.[27]

  1. ^ Rovner, Sophie L. (May 16, 2005). "OPENING ACCESS Publishers weigh the risks and benefits of free online journal access". Chemical & Engineering News. 83 (20): 40–44. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. ^ Ledford, Heidi (2006-10-26). "Funding agencies toughen stance on open access". Nature. 443 (7114): 894–895. doi:10.1038/443894b. ISSN 0028-0836.
  3. ^ Howard, Jennifer (2010-07-29). "Lawmakers Hear Arguments for and Against Open Access to Research". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  4. ^ Russo, Gene (2006-06-22). "Congress pushes plan to make papers free". Nature. 441 (7096): 915–915. doi:10.1038/441915a. ISSN 0028-0836.
  5. ^ a b Suber, Peter (April 17, 2008). "An open access mandate for the National Institutes of Health". Open Medicine. 2 (2): e39–e41. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. ^ Giles, Jim (January 25, 2007). "PR's 'pit bull' takes on open access". Nature. 445 (347): 347. Bibcode:2007Natur.445..347G. doi:10.1038/445347a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 17251943. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  7. ^ "New Open-Access Requirement Starts Today at NIH". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2008-04-07. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  8. ^ Howard, Jennifer (2013-06-04). "Publishers Propose Public-Private Partnership to Support Access to Research". The Chronicle of Higher Education Blogs: Wired Campus. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  9. ^ a b "RSC, ACS offer new open access options for authors | MIT Libraries News". libraries.mit.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  10. ^ "American Chemical Society extends new open access program designed to assist authors". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  11. ^ Basken, Paul (2016-01-13). "As an Open-Access Megajournal Cedes Some Ground, a Movement Gathers Steam". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  12. ^ Bohne, Cornelia; Liz-Marzán, Luis M.; Ganesh, Krishna N.; Zhang, Deqing (2016-07-31). "Chemistry, From Alpha to Omega, Open to All". ACS Omega. 1 (1): 1–1. doi:10.1021/acsomega.6b00103. ISSN 2470-1343.
  13. ^ Kaiser, Jocelyn (May 6, 2005). "Chemists Want NIH to Curtail Database". Science. 308 (5723): 774. doi:10.1126/science.308.5723.774a. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15879180. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
  14. ^ "American Chemical Society (ACS) and PubChem" (PDF). American Chemical Society. 23 May 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  15. ^ David Kestenbaum, "Chemical Society: NIH Database Hurts Business", All Things Considered, June 12, 2005.
  16. ^ Marris, Emma (9 June 2005). "Chemistry Society goes head to head with NIH in fight over public database". Nature. 435: 718–719. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. ^ Biello, David (2007-01-26). "Open Access to Science Under Attack". Scientific American. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  18. ^ Noorden, Richard Van (27 March 2012). "Chemistry's web of data expands". Nature. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  19. ^ ""DIALOG and the American Chemical Society Play a High Stakes Game" by O'Leary, Mick - Online, Vol. 15, Issue 1, January 1991 | Online Research Library: Questia". www.questia.com. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  20. ^ "Lawsuits Threaten ACS' Nonprofit Status, Financial Health | The Scientist Magazine®". The Scientist. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  21. ^ "ACS sues Google over Scholar | The Scientist Magazine®". The Scientist. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  22. ^ McCullagh, Declan (July 19, 2006). "Google Scholar trademark case ends". CNET News. Retrieved June 12, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ DeMartini, Alayna (March 28, 2008). "Chemical Society loses lawsuit Scientists awarded $27 million in trade dispute". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  24. ^ Reich, Eugenie Samuel (26 September 2012). "Chemical society tried to block business competitor". Nature. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  25. ^ Jacobson, Jennifer (2004-09-03). "Chemical Society Draws Fire for Leader's High Pay". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  26. ^ Brumfiel, Geoff (2004-08-26). "Director's salary makes chemists see red". Nature. 430 (7003): 957–957. doi:10.1038/430957a. ISSN 0028-0836.
  27. ^ Science, American Association for the Advancement of (2004-09-03). "Nonprofit World". Science. 305 (5689): 1399–1399. doi:10.1126/science.305.5689.1399b. ISSN 0036-8075.
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