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Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Office of the Laboratory Counsel Litigation & Employment Law P. O. Box 1663, Mail Stop A183 Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (505)667-3766 / FAX: (505) 665-4424 E-Mail: cchandler@lanl.gov | Date: Refer to: | June 18, 2001 LC-LEL:9500-0105\0107041 |
SENT BY FACSIMILE & U.S. MAIL
Mr. John Threadgill
Threadgll & Associates
Attorneys and Counselors at Law
A Professional Corporation
Riverview Tower, Suite 1500
900 South Gay Street
Knoxville, TN 37902-1810
RE: Robert Gentry
Dear Mr. Threadgill:
On February 28, 2001, your client, Robert Gentry, attempted to post a multi-part submission to the Los Alamos National Laboratory pre-print archive, arXiv. Because the archive does not permit the posting of a single work in multiple pieces. Mr. Gentry's postings tripped an electronic flag noting the event. Archive staff removed the posting and notified Mr. Gentry that his submission needed to be tendered as one article. Mr. Gentry apparently chose to ignore this notice and on March 5, 2001, without further communication, re-submitted his work as ten separate submissions: the identical earlier format that was already clearly specified to him as unacceptable. Noting the second attempt, the archive removed Mr. Gentry's submittal and suspended his password. This suspension was based on the fact that Mr. Gentry was unwilling to comply with the archive's requirement of a complete paper submitted as one piece. At no time prior to the suspension of Mr. Gentry's password, had anyone at the archive read the work.
On March 16, 2001, you wrote to the Laboratory requesting that the archive post the previously submitted work. Please be advised that the archive will do so if Mr. Gentry will comply with administrative requirements that have previously been communicated to him: Mr. Gentry must submit his work as one piece and he must obtain an organizational affiliation such as an accredited university or recognized research organization that will sponsor the work by accepting affiliation with the submission.
The archive has had a long-standing requirement that complete works be posted as one submission. Multiple pieces are not permitted principally because the archive requires self-contained, comprehensive research articles. The archive is also concerned about situations where an author may dominate the daily new listings and email announcements. The requirement of a legitimate organizational affiliation is a minimal check on scientific quality. The archive receives approximately 35,000 submissions a year. Given the large volume of postings, this requirement is designed as a limited screen to support the purpose of the archive service.
You have also requested that Mr. Gentry's password be re-activated. The archive will do so upon satisfaction of the two noted requirements and upon receipt of assurances from Mr. Gentry that he will in the future comply with its posting requirements.
In your letter you suggest that the basis for the paper rejection is based on discriminatory motives, but provide no supporting law or facts. Our review of this matter supports no such inference. However, if you believe that you have such information, we would be happy to consider it.
I hope that this clarifies matters for Mr. Gentry.
Sincerely,
Christine Chandler
Attorney for the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
CC: dm
| Cy: | Frank P. Dickson, LC, MS A183 lM-5, MS A150 LC Records (3), MS A187 |
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An Equal Opportunity Employer
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