Noto-are version of open access- read the fine print and think spam
Have you received an email invitation for fast-track “open access” publishing from Noto-are? At least two of my colleagues at work and I received the following message:
An email received by myself and a couple of other colleagues.
You know that old saying: If it sounds too good to be true?
If you visit Noto-are‘s website, there is not much to see of the publishing process without first registering, but anyone can access the User Agreement and Publishing Agreement that are linked on the bottom of the page. How much does the Publishing Agreement at the bottom match the email promise?
Noto-are Email Promises and Publishing Agreement Terms
| Noto-are Email Claim | Noto-are Publishing Term |
|---|---|
| Let's you publish your work free of charge | Free, but you also agree that usage of the Noto-are website and software signifies agreement to abide by policies and regulations set-forth by Noto-are |
| Gives open access to your papers to all the readers globally | Yes, but all papers appear to already be open access and published in arxiv.org |
| Publishes your manuscripts as soon as you make them ready | It sounds like instant access, with no pre-publication peer review. |
| Facilitates peer review for academic integrity | Apparently facilitating post-publication peer review by allowing comments on published papers. I didn't find any comments for any current content. |
| Allows you to use free Noto-are online editing tools to publish fast | No demonstration or ability to observe, prior to registering to publish. All current content was published already in arxiv |
What else does the Publishing Agreement say that was not in the promotion? (all direct quotes with my opinion in green)
- By accepting this Agreement, you, the ’user’, agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this agreement and the policies set forth by Noto-are. You furthermore agree that usage of the Noto-are website and software signifies agreement to abide by policies and regulations set-forth by Noto-are concerning such usage. The terms of this agreement are deemed effective upon acceptance. Noto-are reserves the right to modify this Agreement at any time. A web site shrink-wrap license. And they can do anything they want, like decide each use of the site incurs a user fee of $300. That is why I will not register for the site.
- The user grants to Noto-are permission to make public any submitted material by enacting the use of any Noto-are publication options. I guess this is why this is called open access.
- The user agrees to hold harmless Noto-are for damages resulting from the submission of material or the publishing or public release of any submitted material by the user or any other user of Noto-are. Damages resulting from the submission of material? So you’ve released them from liability….
- The user agrees that by selecting the ’Publish’ option, the users material submitted for publication is automatically copyrighted and the copyright is owned by Noto-are. What happened to You Own your Scientific Writing from the email offer? Not any more..
- The user agrees that by using Noto-are publication options made available through the Noto-are website to the user, the user provides acknowledgement to transfer copyright of submitted material to Noto-are. By displaying or publishing any submitted material on or through Noto-are, you hereby grant to Noto-are an exclusive license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, and distribute such submitted material solely on and through Noto-are. For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, including, for example, video and pictures, the user specifically gives Noto-are the following permission: the user grants Noto-are an exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Noto-are. This is the reality of the transfer of copyright, so that you have no control. They could repackage it with a different author’s name. Or create a new brand of gift wrapping paper…
- By publishing with Noto-are, the user agrees to allow further publication of derivative works, responses, commentary, including corrections or critiques relating to the user’s submitted material made available through publication with Noto-are. An explanation of post publication peer review and the reality that Noto-are, the copyright holder, can derive any format they want from your contribution.
- Noto-are reserves the right to use, make, or modify any published information for promotion of Noto-are software, promotion of content published through Noto-are, or for the sale of information of which Noto-are is copyright owner. You personal information will be put to work for them. You will endorse whatever they intend to sell that is derrive from what you used to own. They own it now.
If you take a closer look at the material already deposited, there seems to be content copied from the arXiv e-Print archive. I guess it’s like opening a shoe store. You have to have some shoes in the window to get customers to come into the store. It is really hard to tell anything about the intent or honest of the creators before you register and deposit something. Here is the WHOIS information about the person that purchased the Notoare.com web domain:
Registrant:
Domains By Proxy, LLC
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
Registered through: Go Daddy
Domain Name: NOTOARE.COM
Created on: 06-Dec-07
Expires on: 06-Dec-12
Last Updated on: 17-Sep-10
A trademark application for Noto-Are LLC was filed September 17, 2011 with the following address:
NOTO-ARE LLC, 10007 116TH AVE NE, KIRKLAND, WA 98033-5150
Perhaps this is just an undergraduate prank. I do not suggest you hand them your email address.
Hi, I got an email from this funny little house at 10007 116TH AVE NE, KIRKLAND, WA, and I am too sceptical of any email that looks for my business – if you want to publish, you need to go out and look for a publisher, even for Open Science/Science 2.0 – they’re not going to come door-knocking. So I searched and found your article. Thanks for taking the time to go into detail with the fine print, being sceptical I couldn’t be bothered and let Google do the work for me. I hope most people do a background check of some sort before thinking of signing up – but a look at the house at the end of the Domain registration is enough to turn anyone off.