J.J. Hermes, Chemical Society Rebuts Anonymous Accusations of Self-Interest in Opposing Open Access, Chronicle of Higher Education, October 24, 2007 (accessible only to subscribers). The Chronicle talks to the ACS about allegations that ACS executives earn bonuses based on revenue or profits from ACS publications. The ACS responds to the first memo from "ACS Insider" but not the second memo. By the way, while the "ACS Insider" allegation is anonymous, the same allegation was made earlier, for attribution, by Paul Thacker in an article in the Summer 2007 issue of SEJournal from the Society of Environmental Journalists.
The Chronicle article contains one new disclosure from Madeleine Jacobs, executive director of the ACS:
Ms. Jacobs did confirm that senior executives and some managers in the publishing division have a "small portion" of their overall incentive compensation "based on meeting certain financial targets." She did not agree that such incentive pay, however small, represented a conflict of interest in the group's opposition to open-access legislation, and called that argument "spurious."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/24/2007 10:35:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
