10 WHO is committed to an open-access policy for all its publications (from 11 November 2016), which will mean that WHO information is freely available and reusable for non-commercial purposes. In order to respond to customer needs, WHO will continue to sell certain publications that meet specific requirements through sales agents and licensing partners. The sale of publications for which payment can reasonably be expected is encouraged in line with United Nations recommendations. WHO publications are invoiced at full rate for industrialized countries, at reduced rate for developing countries, and with a range of discounts according to the category of recipient and the quantity ordered
Formats for dissemination
20 Because of WHO’s commitment to its open-access policy, priority will be placed on digital dissemination. However, in practice, the Organization’s publications should typically use a variety of formats, including print. WHO Press or the relevant regional office of publications can advise on the most appropriate formats, depending on the type of publication and intended target audience.
Open access to WHO publications
30 As of 11 November 2016, all new WHO publications will be open access in the Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (see section VIII.6.10). WHO publications published before this date will continue to be freely accessible. Care should be taken not to post large files on WHO internet sites as these cannot be readily downloaded in many locations. If necessary, large files should be made available through a file transfer protocol (FTP) server.
40 The fact that a WHO publication published before 11 November 2016 can be freely accessed on WHO internet sites means in practice that it can be downloaded for personal use. Since WHO exercises copyright over its material, however, such publications may not be downloaded and re-published without prior permission (see section VIII.6.6).
Free dissemination of printed publications
Unpriced publications
50 The distribution of unpriced printed publications is the responsibility of the technical units concerned. Advice on the distribution of such publications is available on request from WHO Press.
Priced publications
60 WHO Press is responsible for the initial and ad hoc distribution of priced publications as well as for the maintenance of stocks. As a rule, users are invited to make use of the electronic version on the WHO websites. However, when feasible, those with no or limited access to the internet can be provided with the printed edition.
70 Priced publications are also distributed free of charge by WHO Press to a list of mandatory recipients that includes ministries of health, depository libraries and WHO offices worldwide, provided that sufficient copies are available. Technical units wishing for additional free distribution of printed editions should plan for this in discussion with WHO Press or the regional office of publications concerned when the International Standard Book Number and Cataloguing-in-Publication data are assigned (see section VIII.1.4, paragraphs 85 and 100).
