Harvard Business Publishing restricts access to Harvard Business Review's 500 most popular articles to "read-only" in Business Source Complete. The full text of the HBR 500 articles can be accessed but cannot be saved, printed, or linked to from a persistent url. Harvard Business Publishing does not allow the use of the HBR 500 articles in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources.
Harvard Business Publishing advises faculty to set up a premium account at Harvard Business Publishing for Educators, where they can put articles in an online course pack which includes the price of each individual article. For more details, see below.
In August 2013 Harvard Business Publishing placed restrictions on Harvard Business Review's 500 most popular articles.
RUSA/BRASS Statement on Harvard Business Review Pricing & Access:
All databases containing Harvard Business Review, a journal published by Harvard Business Publishing (HBP), became “read only” for 500 (HBR 500) of the most popular Harvard Business Review articles on August 1, 2013. Campuses may pay a premium to restore full access to link, save, and print the affected articles. EBSCO, exclusive provider to electronic Harvard Business Review articles, notified subscribers in spring of 2013 about this change. These new access restrictions will affect researcher’s ability to access and use these articles.
A list of the HBR 500* articles was compiled for 2013, but it is not current as the article titles change according to current popularity. The only way to know is when you access an article in Business Source Complete and click on the article title.
Harvard Business Review: 10/1/1922-present in Business Source Complete: OFF CAMPUS
To see a an example of accessing one of the restricted articles in Business Source Complete, CLICK HERE*.
When you click on the title of an HBR 500 article, you see the following:
You can click on “PDF Full Text” and access the full text of the article as read-only. You can read it online, but cannot save or print the article or obtain a persistent url.
If you scroll down to the last page of the article, you will see their explanation:
Harvard Business Review and Harvard Business Publishing Newsletter content on EBSCOhost is licensed for the private individual use of authorized EBSCOhost users. It is not intended for use as assigned course material in academic institutions nor as a corporate learning or training materials in businesses. Academic licensees may not use this content in electronic reserves, electronic course packs, persistent linking from syllabi or by any other means of incorporating the content into course resources.
When contacted Harvard Business Publishing responded as follows:
Thank you for your inquiry. For college libraries, the situation with Harvard Business Review articles is a bit complicated. Generally we do not allow putting our articles or other publications on library e-reserve; instead, we provide a way for professors to offer digital distribution of the articles by setting up an online coursepack at our special website for educators (HBSP.HARVARD.EDU). When the articles are an assigned reading, professors set up the course pack there and provide the students a particular link. The access to the articles does have to be purchased though, paid either by the students or covered by the university.
One thing to note is that if the HBR articles are not required reading, but just recommended/suggested, then the professor could have the students access the articles through the library's EBSCO database subscription system.
HBP advises faculty to set up an account at Harvard Business Publishing for Educators, where they can put articles in an online course pack which includes the price of each individual article.
Further Reading:
New Policy on Harvard Business Review Articles Sparks Debate
Harvard Business Review Defends New Restrictions on Sharing Articles
Librarians Speak Out Against Harvard Publishing’s Latest Restrictions
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