Guidelines for Institutional Access

The following guidelines provide institutional subscribers with a set of simple, fair rules governing rights and limitations for Internet access of online versions of INFORMS journals by Authorized Users. These current guidelines supersede any prior understanding between INFORMS and the institutional subscriber regarding the use and reuse of INFORMS journals.

Access to INFORMS journals is granted for all Authorized Users on the following conditions:

•  INFORMS acceptance of the institutional subscriber's completed order; and
•  Receipt of the required subscription fee(s).

"Authorized Users" are authenticated, authorized current full and part time students, employees (including faculty, staff, affiliated researchers and independent contractors), and other individuals who have permission to use the public computers on an institutional subscriber's geographically constrained site. A "site" is an organizational unit, and may be academic or nonacademic. For organizations located in more than one city, each city office is considered a different site. For organizations within the same city that are administered independently, each office is considered a different site.

Institutions using a single IP address (range) to access subscriptions and/or centrally administering their library resources for multiple campus (physical) locations are required to notify INFORMS when subscribing to electronic journal content. Such Institutions may be required to pay multi-site access fees and/or subscription surcharges based on their number of campus sites and FTEs (subscriber base) at each location.

In consideration of the payment of the appropriate subscription fee, the institutional subscriber and INFORMS agree to adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The institutional subscriber will undertake all necessary authentication and verification processes to ensure that only Authorized Users can access these journals.
2. INFORMS maintains its journals as a service to our members and the scientific/technical/ medical community. INFORMS holds the copyright for all works published in our journals, as a compilation and as to the individual articles, collectively and individually, unless otherwise expressly noted.
3. All use of journal content is subject to applicable Copyright law and reproduction of journal content is allowed only as follows:
   1. Downloading: Downloading, printing, or saving of content for personal, non-commercial use is permissible. Systematic downloading is forbidden.
   2. Commercial Redistribution: No commercial use (e.g. downloading, posting of a file, or printing to resell or distribute) of any articles is permitted without prior, express written permission of INFORMS.
   3. Interlibrary Loan: Because of the easily reproducible nature of electronic publications, Inter Library Loan of articles or components in any electronic or digital form is expressly prohibited. The institutional subscriber may print out articles for Inter Library Loan under CONTU (National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyright Works) guidelines, provided the printing is done locally and at the Institutional Subscriber's expense, and that only a limited number of copies of such articles will be made and distributed in this way. [http://www.cni.org/docs/infopols/CONTU.html]
   4. Braille Transcription: The institutional subscriber may transcribe any portion of a Journal into Braille script or enlarged type for Authorized Users who are visually impaired.
   5. Course Packs: Contributors of articles published in the Journal(s) who are faculty members of the institutional subscriber may use those articles in any course pack they compile without charge. All other articles used in course packs should be included according to conventions applicable in the local country. Similarly, contributors may store their articles in electronic reserve rooms for access by their students as part of their course work, and for in house training programs of the contributor's employer.
4. Institutional subscribers agrees to the following:
   1. The institutional subscriber is responsible for creating and maintaining reasonable security measures, and posting policies consistent with the rights and restrictions described in these guidelines to ensure that only Authorized Users can access journals. The institutional subscriber is prohibited from making agreements for access to INFORMS journals with individuals, organizations, vendors, affiliates, or partners, which are not parts of the same institution purchasing this subscription. The institutional subscriber affirms that all IP addresses in the range listed for authorization are specifically controlled by the institution for workstations under its administrative control and for the use of individuals who meet the Authorized User definition above. The institutional subscriber is responsible for maintaining the list of IP addresses of all Authorized Users.
   2. If the institutional subscriber becomes aware of unauthorized access to Journals, it will notify INFORMS immediately and cooperate in locating and attempting to stop the specific individuals who are abusing the service. If the specific abuser(s) cannot be identified or stopped, INFORMS has the right to withhold, suspend, or terminate access to all or any portion of the journal(s)' web site, without liability.
   3. The institutional subscriber agrees not to remove, cover, overlay, obscure, block, or change any copyright notices, legends, or terms of use which INFORMS may post on the site in order to inform users about system features, terms of use, or copyright notices.
5. SUBSCRIPTION ACCESS: INFORMS provides journal access only for the term of this subscription; and does not undertake to ensure future access to the online archives once the subscription term has expired. INFORMS intends to retain full-text versions of all articles for all past issues posted online and to continue to make this database available to all currently active subscribers. However, because INFORMS cannot be certain of future technology, storage, or maintenance costs, this access cannot be guaranteed. INFORMS reserves the right to remove all or portions of the archive of past issues. Only current subscribers may access materials under access control.
6. TECHNICAL ACCESS: INFORMS intends for the site to be available 24-hours per day, 7 days per week. However, INFORMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OR REFUNDS SHOULD THE SITE BECOME UNAVAILABLE TEMPORARILY OR ACCESS TO THE SITE BECOMES SLOW OR INCOMPLETE due to system back-up procedures, internet traffic volume, upgrades, overload of requests to the servers, general network failures or delays, or any other cause which may from time to time make the site inaccessible for the library's users.
7. WARRANTY: While INFORMS seeks to ensure the accuracy of content posted online, INFORMS DOES NOT WARRANT OR GUARANTEE ITS ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO CASE SHALL INFORMS LIABILITY FOR ANY CONTENT OR ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEMS WITH THE SITE EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF SUBSCRIPTION FEES PAID FOR THE JOURNAL(s) DURING THE 6-MONTH PERIOD PRECEDING ANY CLAIM OR NOTICE OF DAMAGES.

Download the PDF version:  2017 Guidelines for Institutional Access