Biologist Nicholas Cozzarelli dreams of a world in which scientists wouldn't have to keep quiet in public about their papers in press at a scientific journal. He believes such embargo rules, which many journals use to prevent early data release, are inimical to scientific communication. So, as editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Cozzarelli has proposed getting his journal out of the embargo business.
But the 50-member PNAS editorial board is divided on Cozzarelli's plan, which he presented at a 30 October meeting. Some members argue that PNAS's competitive edge might suffer. Geneticist Arno Motulsky of the University of Washington, Seattle, also worries that the lack of an embargo might encourage commercial sponsors of research to hype findings before publication. Such concerns prompted the PNAS board to postpone action on making their journal embargo-free--at least until their next meeting in April.
