Increasingly, scientific conferences are being webcast to extend the benefits beyond the few who are privileged to attend. Generally, the content is archived on the web site of the organizers, where it can be subsequently accessed. This practice is already well established in the physical sciences and is growing rapidly in other areas of science.

Should a webcast scientific talk be viewed as a publication? In an April 1999 policy statement by the PNAS Editorial Board on Prior Publication of Papers, we wrote that results “have already been published if they have appeared in sufficient detail to allow replication, are publicly accessible with a fixed content, and have been validated by review.” A seminar archived on the web fails to meet the first and third of these three standards and thus does not prejudice subsequent publication in PNAS. The editorial continues, “Our guiding principle is that journals should interfere minimally in such exchanges [before formal publication]; authors themselves should dictate the dissemination of their own work.”

Unfortunately, some leading journals have a very different policy. We discovered this fact when representatives of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) inquired about the planned web archiving of the Academy's scientific symposia. Some of the biologists (but not the physical and social scientists) who were contacted feared that if they made their talks available on the web, it could prejudice the subsequent publication of this work in important journals. The editors of several of these journals have subsequently confirmed this suspicion on the part of the scientists.

Given the obvious benefits to science of opening up participation in conferences worldwide, what reasons can be given for denying the publication of work that was previously revealed in a webcast seminar? Some editors say that their journals want to publish only new information, or “news.” Once a result becomes widely accepted by the scientific community from a presentation of any kind, it may no longer be able to compete for the limited space in a high-profile journal. It was stated that the public distribution of even a single key figure on the web might prevent publication of a paper if that figure captured the essence of the work.

It was also argued that a “no prior public dissemination of information” policy is in the best interest of scientists, inasmuch as it protects the priority of scientific discovery. In particular, data that are presented before online publication can be incorporated into the work of other scientists without citation. Is this an argument that has the support of the scientific community? As a test, I recently polled the members of the PNAS Editorial Board by asking whether the web archiving of seminars should influence the subsequent publication of the same work in PNAS. These leading scientists voted 68 to 3 that it should not. In my opinion, journals do not, in fact, protect authors against plagiarism. Instead, it is up to the scientific community to award credit and priority where it is due.

What should scientists do about the current confusion that exists concerning publication rules? I suggest that each of us ask our favorite journals about their prior release policy. An e-mail to the editor should do the trick. Second, lodge complaints with those journals whose policies you do not like. You have more power than you think. Even the most prestigious scientific journals compete for the best science, and they all depend on scientists for the review and selection of articles.

It would be most unfortunate if the increasing use of webcasting and web archiving causes authors to decline to present their newest data at a seminar or conference. Although each of us should have the right to preclude the posting of our talks on the web, this is certainly a poor alternative to changing those journal policies that restrict the free communication of science prior to publication. The PNAS Editorial Board has been supporting the growing movement toward providing rapid worldwide access to scientific results through the Internet. Through our journal, we practice what we preach. We urge others to join us in this important effort to increase the spread of science around the globe.

• Copyright © 2003, The National Academy of Sciences