“Abigail Goben and Alison Doubleday had the good idea to do a literature review on how scholars in health sciences discuss copyright. Overall the diagnosis is grim” – Peter Suber
This is consistent with what I have been experiencing across the disciplines here at UC San Diego..
“Most articles entirely ignore the idea of the public domain and provide rampant misinformation when mentioning fair use, open access, and Creative Commons licensing….
[A]ttribution and plagiarism are often conflated with copyright misappropriation; none of the articles that were examined addressed either the remixing or sharing cultures driven by current technology…
Noticeably absent were case studies outlining how copyright and fair use topics are addressed in specific circumstances or at specific institutions, as well as research studies investigating outcomes related to educational and training initiatives.”
Abigail Goben, Alison F. Doubleday
ABSTRACT
Health science educators, researchers, and clinicians are regularly faced with challenges surrounding copyright and fair use. However, little is known about how copyright is addressed in the professional literature. In order to identify themes and gaps, the authors undertook a narrative review of articles published in health sciences literature between 2000-2016. Only 154 articles were identified on the topic, which attempted to address areas of concern for educators, researchers, and clinicians across all health science disciplines. Overarching issues were identified including prevalence of misinformation or misunderstandings, particularly around fair use, and the continued need for authoritative copyright education and definition of best practices.
