MIT Press Says AAPs Research Works Act News Release Does Not Reflect Its Position, Mission

Last week we pointed out that some members of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) might have issues/concerns with the Research Works Act (RWA) legislation. We asked if these organizations would leave the AAP or speak out against it.
Today, Richard Poynder’s blog post, “MIT Press distances itself from Research Works Act” includes the following comment from Ellen Faran, Director, MIT Press.

“The AAP’s press release on the Research Works Act does not reflect the position of the MIT Press; nor, I imagine, the position of many other scholarly presses whose mission is centrally focused on broad dissemination. We will not, however, withdraw from the AAP on this issue as we value the Association’s work overall and the opportunity to participate as a member of the larger and diverse publishing community.”

The comment was also posted on the Global Open Access List and on Peter Suber’s Google+ page where he gives kudos to MIT Press for speaking out against the RWA.

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