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In our talk we tried to outline what’s wrong with the academic system of doing science and discuss various initiatives which try to improve the situation. We focused on how to make the publishing system more open and transparent (Open Science) and create completely new ways of collaborating and sharing scientific knowledge (so called “Science 2.0”).Michał Kotowski and Piotr Migdał.
After an introduction by Cameron Neylon (PLoS) and Martin Rasmussen (Copernicus Publications), participants will discuss several statements relating to open access of publications, in both small groups and in a plenary session. The aim of this KNAW open access dialog is to raise awareness of open access by discussing controversial statements. In this way, advantages and disadvantages of the various publication models as well as do’s and don’ts will be considered.Register here.
We need to prod scholars to be more receptive to scholarship that takes place outside of the traditional closed publishing system. One major rub with open systems of scholarly communication is that peer review essentially comes after the act of publication, which strikes many traditional academics as odd.Wired. Opinion.
Internet activist killed himself a month before going on trial for what family calls ‘an alleged crime that had no victims’.
The Guardian. See also Cory Doctorow’s post on BoingBoig.
Open access publishing has been proposed as one possible solution to the serials crisis | the rapidly growing subscription prices in scholarly journal publishing. However, open access publishing can present economic pitfalls as well, such as excessive publication charges. We discuss the decision that an author faces when choosing to submit to an open access journal. We develop an interactive tool to help authors compare among alternative open access venues and thereby get the most for their publication fees.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will next week hold its first evidence session in a new short inquiry into the Government’s open access policy and its implementation by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) (the partnership of the UK’s seven research councils).
Idea #1: defend a real choice in terms of open data licences (“pro-choice” approach) Ideal #2: the General Interest Data, G.I.D. Idea #3: Contribution peering: I contribute/I receive Idea #4: Contributive pricing on use (GET>POST)
OKF Blog.
The Register & Read program was designed to make access to JSTOR’s treasure trove of journal articles at least a little more open. While access to JSTOR’s full content is reserved for those with ties to libraries that purchase subscriptions, the Register & Read program lets anyone, university-affiliated or not, read — but not download or copy — up to three articles every two weeks, for free.
The new data release policy is part of the deliverables detailed in the Digital Management Strategy, which the Office of Management and Budget released in May. It calls for a new policy for open data, content and web API standards within six months. The policy is now two months late.Federal News Radio.
What is really needed, though, is a thorough analysis of optimum embargo periods by discipline and/or a plan for monitoring the effectiveness of different embargo periods in different disciplines.Historians revolt against RCUK’s embargo periods and the CC-BY licences which would not fit to their way research is done, they say.
More than 10000 free journals available. Journals for Free has a broad definition for what open access journals are:
- journals that provide free documents immediately upon publication, with no delay;
- journals with free information after a delay (embargo period);
- journals with free information for a certain period in the past.
The ARC’s new policy will free up a lot of basic research. But far from all of it. There are loopholes, there is wiggle room, and there are ways for researchers and universities to drag their feet.
An invitation to an open panel discussion organised by the National Union of Journalists and hosted by The Wellcome Trust.The event will take place on Wednesday 6 February at 7pm in London.The venue is The Wellcome Trust, 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE
“With Japanese researchers, there’s a kind of resistance or barrier to using a creative commons license; particularly, people tend to have the attitude that the rights to a paper are the publisher’s concern, so they don’t think to actively go for a creative commons license themselves,” Mr. Bando states.
(& where they end up, and why).The blog Free U.S. ETD’s is a blog created and managed by Gail Clement, Librarian and Associate Professor in Digital Services & Scholarly Communications at the Texas A&M University Libraries.
In a recent post, Caren Cooper focused on scientist-driven citizen science. This perspective offers a framework for many citizen science projects. Citizens participate in established research agendas to assist scientists collect, aggregate, and/or analyze large data sets. But citizen science can also be participant-driven.
PLOS Blogs.
Good science should have no boundaries. That was the strong message from Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, last month at the Berlin 10 Open Access Conference at Stellenbosch University.Business Daily.
