This week, the US Treasury announced that it would lift its ban preventing US journals from publishing peer-reviewed papers written by authors from countries such as Iran and Cuba that are subject to a US trade embargo.

In this article, Science welcomes this change in government policy, saying that the journal "appreciates [the] Treasury's willingness to own up to a mistake".

The unfettered exchange of information encourages scientific progress in all nations, including the United States, the article says. It also calls for the Treasury to lift its ban on scientific exchange with Cuba and acknowledge that "basic research symposia and laboratory visits are not appropriate subjects for 'trading with the enemy' sanctions".

Link to full article in Science

Reference: Science 304, 171 (2004)