| Dear Professor Feldman,
In view of the current conflict in Ukraine, we understand you may have questions about whether you as editors are expected to take any action.
At Elsevier, our role is to help researchers advance science and improve outcomes for the benefit of society, and for that we need the free flow of ideas and quality, peer reviewed research from researchers globally. Given the international and collaborative nature of research, any restrictions on scientific publishing not only harm individual researchers – who may themselves have different political views from their governments – but also authors from other countries entirely.
As of the time of writing, no government sanctions are in place which impact the handling of papers that include Russian authors, and we ask editors to follow usual practice on “Fair Play”: “The editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.”
This is an evolving crisis and we will keep you updated on any developments that may impact your work. We stand by our belief that restrictions on publishing are inappropriate, and any exceptions should be narrowly crafted. We will work with the STM publishing industry associations, other companies, and research communities, to analyze any future changes in trade sanction policies with respect to Russia.
Elsevier wishes to express its support for all civilians caught up in conflict worldwide, and our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine at this difficult time.
All the best,
Laura Hassink
Managing Director, STM Journals |
