PUBLICITY, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS 287 



years in research of a classified nature under Service, OSRD, or NACA 

 auspices. There was no possibiUty of pubHshing the results during the war. 

 Papers submitted to scientific journals, even though not prepared as a result 

 of military research, were submitted by the editors to a self-imposed censor- 

 ship by a National Research Council Committee headed by Dean L. P. 

 Eisenhart of Princeton University. 



As the favorable outcome of the war within a foreseeable time became 

 increasingly apparent, a more far-reaching publication policy was clearly 

 indicated. This policy had to recognize that the five years of scientific 

 silence had left a great deal unsaid which scientists needed to hear. The 

 problem of releasing this mass of information was not simple and could 

 not be solved by the stroke of a pen. The reasons why this was so are worth 

 elaborating. They were: 



1. Even if the information were publishable in its extant form, the 

 volume would flood the journals and book publishers far beyond their 

 capacity. 



2. Even had there been no security restrictions, the papers were not pub- 

 lishable by and large in their extant form. Rapid progress reporting had 

 been the necessary order of the day. Scientific documentation, which is a 

 sine qua non of normal first-rate scientific reporting, had been used only as 

 the occasion really demanded. Most papers needed revision to make them 

 adequate for the scientific library. The problem of persuading any large 

 body of first-rate scientists to engage in this revision after V-E and V-J 

 Days would be no easy one. 



3. Within the framework of that material which could be accommodated 

 by the scientific press and which was publishable in the scientific sense, 

 there would still at the outset be an enormous variation in publishability 

 on the grounds of military security. Final decision on this point rested at 

 all times in the military. Fragmentary publication might do more harm 

 than good. A wholesale campaign for maximum declassification to the only 

 generally publishable category "Open" would have to be carried on. 



4. Our understanding with our Allies, particularly the British, had to be 

 respected, and any publication program co-ordinated with them. Scientific 

 information had been exchanged on a broad scale, and each Government 

 had respected the security classifications of the other. It would be bad for 

 postwar scientific collaboration if, through hasty action, either side claimed 

 unwarranted scientific accomplishments, or either side failed to pay proper 

 respect to the contributions of the other. Yet, even with all good will, this 

 could happen if the general declassification policy were not the same in both 

 countries, for the open paper could not acknowledge the credit due another 

 whose work was still held classified. 



5. With somewhat less force, the same situation applied within the 

 United States. Often parallel and sometimes competing groups had been 



