The IMU Executive Committee (EC) – on the advice of the CoP – created in 2021 an ad hoc Committee on Permissions with the task of preparing a report regarding the following:

• A recommendation for IMU policy on the time frame for making papers freely available after publication, together with technical details such as licenses.
• A concrete proposal for how to implement this recommendation, for example by outreach to publishers, with the particular goal of negotiating access to existing back issues.
• Any additional considerations that may affect the availability of past papers, such as the demise of publishing companies or issues with archiving.

The Committee on Permissions was chaired by Thomas Brennan (Harvard Law School, US) and submitted its final report to the IMU EC in August 2024. This final report has been endorsed by the IMU EC. 

• Ensuring widespread and equitable access to back issues of mathematics journals

In the years 2020 abs 2021, the CoP worked on an updated edition of best current practices for journals, which were subsequently endorsed by the EC. All previous editions thus lose their validity.

• Best Current Practices for Mathematics Journals

As a historical document of particular relevance, we include here the booklet “Recommendations on Electronic Information and Communication” published in the pioneering time of CoP (then CEIC) at the end of the first four year term in 2002. It is a document of remarkable foresight and clarity.