Archives

What would happen if I placed my manuscripts in the Public Domain?

What would happen if I placed my manuscripts in the Public Domain?

Mike Taylor, Computer programmer with Index Data, palaeontologist with the University of Bristol, and advocate for open access, open data and open source on the Copyright status of work by the U.S. government and its possible influence on scientific publishing towards open access:

So journals and publishers are already set up to deal with public domain works that have no copyright. And that made me wonder why this option should be restricted to U.S. Federal employees.

Narrating impacts in the Arts & Humanities

Narrating impacts in the Arts & Humanities

Uncertainty remains over the importance of reach and significance and their relationship with dissemination.  So, whilst dissemination is an increasingly important component of funded research, it is by itself insufficient to demonstrate reach (the extent and diversity or communities, environments, individuals or organisations that have benefitted or been affected by research outcomes) or significance (relates to demonstrable effect and ‘change’). 

OA and the UK Humanities & Social Sciences: Wrong risks and missed opportunities

OA and the UK Humanities & Social Sciences: Wrong risks and missed opportunities

Someone once said to me that the best way to get researchers to be serious about the issue of modernising scholarly communications was to let the scholarly monograph business go to the wall as an object lesson to everyone else. After the last couple of weeks I’m beginning to think the same might be said of the UK Humanities and Social Sciences literature. I get that people are worried, even scared. I can also see some are stirring up mud behind the scenes to get academics and editors angry. But the problem is that people are focussing on the wrong problems and missing the significant opportunities to rejuvenate H&SS in the UK.

The online home of Cameron Neylon.

Unlocking the value of medical case reports: BioMed Central launches Cases Database

Unlocking the value of medical case reports: BioMed Central launches Cases Database

BioMed Central the open access publisher today announced the launch of a valuable new medical resource, Cases Database. Cases Database is a freely accessible and continuously updated tool, developed by BioMed Central, which allows clinicians, researchers, teachers and patients to explore thousands of peer-reviewed medical case reports from multiple journal publishers, including BioMed Central, Springer and BMJ Group.

Two ways open access can radically reform science communication

Two ways open access can radically reform science communication

The traditional model for scientific publishing includes anonymous peer review. Your colleagues read and evaluate your work. They catch the problems. If you can respond to their objections in a way that satisfies them and the editor, your paper may get published. But we know there are problems with this system. One way to measure those is with retraction rates. An article that gets published might have to be retracted if a reader or editor or even the scientist herself discovers that there was a problem.

The end of journals? Open access, impact and the production of knowledge

The end of journals? Open access, impact and the production of knowledge

There are various models of open access available, but the underlying principle is that authors pay for their article to be published in a journal. The cost will generally be around £900 to £2000, which will theoretically be built into future proposals for research funding. While there is widespread support for tearing down the paywalls around research findings, changing publishing’s funding model raises some significant issues, not least for the social sciences where monographs (books) and other non-journal outputs play a more significant role than in the natural sciences (although this may be on the decline).

Blog entry on The University of Nottingham, UK.

See also this article on the discussion about the future of open access publishing.

A shift in open access policy in Canada?

A shift in open access policy in Canada?

Instead of 6 month, what gave researchers a leg to stand on when negotiating a shorter embargo period with publishers, the Canadian Institute for Health and Research (CIHR), wants scientists to publish within 12 month.

As of January, 2013, CIHR-funded researchers will be required to make their peer-reviewed publications accessible at no cost within 12 months of publication – at the latest. While the revised Policy provides researchers with clear guidance on CIHR’s minimum expectation, in the spirit of public benefits of research, CIHR continues to encourage researchers to make their publications accessible for free as soon as possible after publication. Compliance with the Open Access Policy will continue to be monitored through end of grant reporting.

See also this bog entry.

Digital Openness Index

Digital Openness Index

The do:index (digital openness index) is a new project to make visible and comparable with each other the input and contribution public corporations do to digital common property. The do:index was initiated by the German Digitale Gesellschaft e. V., the Austrian Verein Freie Netze. Freies Wissen and the swiss Digitale Allmend and got kiff-off funds through the Internet Privatstiftung Austria (IPA).

See also the video (In German).

Leading or following: Data and rankings must inform strategic decision making, not drive them

Leading or following: Data and rankings must inform strategic decision making, not drive them

At yesterday’s Future of Impact conference, Cameron Neylon argued that universities must ask how their research is being re-used, and choose to become the most skilled in using available data to inform strategic decision making. It’s time to put down the Impact voodoo doll and stop using rankings blindly.

LSE Blog.