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Open access aids science research

Open access to this research has been debated for several years. Advocates have argued that the ability to freely access government-funded information is not only fair but also enables innovation otherwise stymied by pay walls and restrictive websites. Scientific advances are collaborative. Innovation sparks further innovation as researchers exchange ideas.

Says - Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner on politico.com

UK: House Of Commons BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS COMMITTEE meets today

Today (see scedule here), the Business , Innovation and Skills Committee  is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the administration, expenditure and policy of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its associated public bodies, including Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Knowledge exchange – Value of research: Metrics for datasets from a cultural and technical point of view

This report seeks to further explore the possibilities of metrics for datasets (…) and an effective reward system that aligns the main interests of the main stakeholders involved in the process. (…) The most important recommendations include the general adoption of data sharing and data publication among scholars; the development of a reward system for scientists that includes data metrics; reducing the costs of data publication; reducing existing negative cultural perceptions of researchers regarding data publication; developing standards for preservation, publication, identification and citation of datasets; more coordination of data repository initiatives; and further development of interoperability protocols across different actors.

Open Science, Reproducibility, Credit and Collaboration

Open science is a philosophy as much as it is an imperative. It is asking scientists to give up the unspoken reciprocal partnerships between data generators and those who use the data down the road. (…) Reciprocation is necessary, but that it is a potential benefit provided to the data generators that we may be losing in a move to central repositories. Data generation is costly, it is high (or higher) risk, and it is often slow, but it is critical to move macro-scale research forward, and to find the teleconnections between ecosystems that can help push science forward. 
Blog.  

Open Access, the Impact Agenda and resistance to the neoliberal paradigm

 OA is no more prone to the aspects of neoliberal practice outlined above than traditional scholarly publishing. Some arguments are surfacing that, in OA, we hand over our work for others to then privatise. (…)  OA could actually undermine neoliberal competitive practices of the privatisation of knowledge. Why else would publishers be getting so hot under the collar? Finally, could OA exist outside these aspects of neoliberal doctrine? Well, of course, we are dependent on technology, produced under the system of late-capitalism, for our non-rivalrous commodity exchange. In some senses, then: no. However, the same can be said for industrial printing under conventional scholarly publishing.
A critical view on open access research within the neoliberal publishing industries. See also the discussion.

OPEN RESEARCH DATA HANDBOOK – CALL FOR CASE STUDIES

The OKF Open Research Data Handbook – a collaborative and volunteer-led guide to Open Research Data practices – is beginning to take shape and we need you! We’re looking for case studies showing benefits from open research data: either researchers who have personal stories to share or people with relevant expertise willing to write short sections. Designed to provide an introduction to open research data, we’re looking to develop a resource that will explain what open research data actually is, the benefits of opening up research data, as well as the processes and tools which researchers need to do so, giving examples from different academic disciplines.
Open Knowledge Foundation.

Conference on open access and its use in libraries

See this workshop OA workflow to Extract, Transform, Map, and Publish dynamic metadata at Elag 2013.
This year’s tag line will be ‘Inside Out Library’: while ELAG (European Library Automation Group) 2013 will still be focused on specific, library related IT issues, we want to expand the aim and target audience by addressing innovative topics such as Open Access. ELAG 2013 will also host two pre-conferences: THATCamp, which focuses on researchers in the digital humanities, and an joint OpenAIRE/LIBER workshop ‘Dealing with data’ . ELAG 2013 is hosted by Ghent University Library and the Ghent University Faculty Library Arts & Philosophy, and will take place from May 28th until May 31st 2013.
Pre-conferences on May 28th is free. Registration is open.

RCUK changes open-access guidance yet again

The re-revised guidance still contains the government-endorsed “decision tree” articulating the Publishers’ Association’s understanding of the policy’s open access options. However, it adds that the choice of green or gold “remains at the discretion of the researchers and their research organisations”. The Publishers Association have previously insisted that the decision tree entails that the gold route must be chosen when funding is available.
Times Higher Education.