Published
I "googled" her name and found and address for her in a siting on http://www.springerlink.com/content/xg8m88506g5r1t42/ It lists: Department of Medical Research, Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Inc., 46202 Indianapolis, Indiana
You could start there. If that doesn't work, try her publisher. They should have contact info or at least be able to forward correspondance for you.
Good luck.
Just curious, was it an expedited review? If so, won't they cut you a bit of slack since it has been common domain for 25+ years? If not, will having a release from the publisher suffice?
"Common domain"? US copyright law provides that, since, 1978, a copyrighted work is legally protected for the life of the author plus 50 years. Even if the author died the day after she copyrighted the tool (I'm assuming it's copyrighted), it still would not be in the public domain. If you use the content of the instrument in a thesis or "D" without permission of the entity holding the copyright, you're violating US law. A legitimate university IRB is not going to support that.
rach78
20 Posts
Hello,
I am really hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction, here. I have just submitted my research proposal to the IRB at my school. They have returned it telling me I need to contact the author of the Nursing Stress Scale and get her permission to use this scale. It was designed by Pamela Gray-Toft in 1981. I have been all over the internet trying to find her and I just don't know where to look anymore. It is a widely used scale and many studies have used it, but I just don't know where to go from here.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks so much for your help,
Rachel