Does a home license allow for research and publishing results (technical papers) as an individual (only me at home and no one else, no other organization, company, etc.)?

My endeavors are solely my own and are not related to any organization, group, company, governemnt agency, etc., etc.

If there are licensing limitations / restrictions then what do I need to do to remedy this ?

Answer 1

[Jan]

You want a bullet-proof answer. Then contact the sales team and explain exactly, what you want to do with your Matlab license. I've never seen somebody, who publishes papers privately, but even if you do this, this sounds like scientific work in my ears. Note that you can establish your own "institute" just by pinning a new door bell nameplate at your house.

To be really sure, do not ask the public forum maintained by voluntary contributors, but contact MathWorks offcially using the "Contact Us" button.

[gfNq77]

The feedback is greatly appreciated and is indeed helpful.

I hadn't thought of establishing an institute but did consider that a company or organization may need to be setup (to obtain the commercial licenses in order to publish). Sounds like an institute might be easier.

Answer 2

[Andreas Goser]

Home licenses are for hobbyists. Looks like you are authoring such papers as part of your hobby.

[Walter Roberson]

My reading of the license terms is that the Home license cannot be used for publications unless it is more or less the case that no one cares about your paper (or, I suppose, if your paper is so bad that it damages your reputation).

[gfNq77]

The "hobbyist" is the issue - that's what I am by default given the licensing choices by MathWorks. The commercial / academic licenses are not available to me (as an individual) since I am not associated with or funded by any company or organization. Nor is the "work" related to any company or organization. I'll ping MWs.

[Walter Roberson]

Commercial / Professional / Standard (whatever they are calling it today) is sold to individuals who do not qualify for the other licenses.

You should look at the Academic, Home, and Student licenses as being reduced-price licenses that some people are qualified for; anyone else needs to get the Commercial / Standard / Professional license.

Answer 3

[Walter Roberson]

In R2017a, look in matlabroot at license_agreement.txt, somewhere near line 970

 2.4. Home

    (i) A Home License may be licensed by an individual and may be used only
    for personal use. A Home License may not be used for activities that are
    commercial, for profit, professional, academic, government, or
    revenue-generating.

The "professional" clause applies even if no revenue is being generated.

There are some journals that permit papers from people who would not be considered professionals, but it is increasingly rare for a respected journal to accept a paper that does not have at least one co-author with a (cited) graduate degree. Part of that is due to competition for resources; another part of that is due to the volume of sheer crud and crackpot that the respected journals get. Someone with no professional reputation has less to lose by publishing bad science or forged data.

Anyhow, "professional" or not, it becomes difficult to argue that publishing a paper is "personal use".

But really you should talk to Mathworks Sales.

[gfNq77]

Thanks again for digging in. MW gets a ping.