Sobre ombros de gigantes: open access, creative commons e o cenário dos periódicos brasileiros de direito

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the context of the Brazilian scientific journals, especially those situated in the legal field. The elements analyzed are the patterns of access, licenses and costs associated with these journals. The direct data analyzed were obtained from the collection of these elements through the sites of journals classified in the legal and other fields of knowledge in order to form the research sample. The research problem investigates the institutional design of the legal journals as well as verifies if there is either a confirmation or a denial of the legalisticinterpretative of copyright norms. Methodologically, this research promotes an empirical and qualitative analysis taking into account the use of three basic concepts elucidated by Epstein and King: descriptive inference, observable implications and rival hypothesis. The Zenon Bankowski’s idea of duty and aspiration applied to legal theory is the theoretical reference of this investigation. The main conclusion is that there is a tendency to disregard the traditional proprietary patterns by the national legal journals in order to offer free and open scientific content. However, the proprietary and restrictive patterns are still present in these journals as obstacles to promote access to scientific knowledge.