EN

The role of preprints in open science: Accelerating knowledge transfer from science to technology

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors : Zhiqi Wang, Yue Chen, Chun Yang

Preprints have become increasingly essential in the landscape of open science, facilitating not only the exchange of knowledge within the scientific community but also bridging the gap between science and technology.

However, the impact of preprints on technological innovation, given their unreviewed nature, remains unclear. This study fills this gap by conducting a comprehensive scientometric analysis of patent citations to bioRxiv preprints submitted between 2013 and 2021, measuring and accessing the contribution of preprints in accelerating knowledge transfer from science to technology.

Our findings reveal a growing trend of patent citations to bioRxiv preprints, with a notable surge in 2020, primarily driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Preprints play a critical role in accelerating innovation, not only expedite the dissemination of scientific knowledge into technological innovation but also enhance the visibility of early research results in the patenting process, while journals remain essential for academic rigor and reliability. w

The substantial number of post-online-publication patent citations highlights the critical role of the open science model-particularly the « open access » effect of preprints-in amplifying the impact of science on technological innovation.

This study provides empirical evidence that open science policies encouraging the early sharing of research outputs, such as preprints, contribute to more efficient linkage between science and technology, suggesting an acceleration in the pace of innovation, higher innovation quality, and economic benefits.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.20225

EN

Open Licensing Models in the Cultural Heritage Sector

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors :  Bartolomeo Meletti, Kristofer Erickson, Aline Iramina, Victoria Stobo

This document reports on a study of open licensing practices among cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) carried out by researchers in the CREATe Centre at the University of Glasgow and the Centre for Archive Studies at the University of Liverpool.

The purpose of this study – funded by Creative Commons – is to advance understanding of how open licensing is being used in CHIs in practice and to enable information sharing about potential strategies. The authors do not endorse any singular approach – the findings reflect responses by a wide range of institutions in their own local contexts.

URL : Open Licensing Models in the Cultural Heritage Sector

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15691432 

EN

Cost for research — how cost data of research can be included in open metadata to be reused and evaluated

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors : Julia Bartlewski, Christoph Broschinski, Gernot Deinzer, Cornelia Lang, Dirk Pieper, Bianca Schweighofer, Colin Sippl, Lisa-Marie Stein, Alexander Wagner, Silke Weisheit

The openCost project aims to enhance transparency in research funding by making publication-related costs publicly accessible, following FAIR principles. It introduces a metadata schema for cost data, allowing aggregation and analysis across institutions.

The project promotes open access and cost-efficient models, benefiting academic institutions, funders, and policymakers.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.18517

 

EN

Open access publishing in an African context: Notable improvements and recurring challenges

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors : Sodiq Onaolapo, Philips Ayeni, Siphamandla Mncube

Open access publishing has been promoted as a pivotal means of bridging the gap in knowledge access and usage. Despite the growing support for open access publishing globally, little is known about African scholars’ engagement with open access publishing and the barriers limiting their open access publishing practices.

Using a survey research design, data was collected from 241 researchers from selected universities in Africa, such as Nigerian, Kenyan and South African universities. The data was collected using online surveys and analysed using the descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentages. T

he study reveals that while most of the respondents had published open access articles (78.01%) and had a positive perception of the quality of open access journals (73.45%) and editorial teams, more than half were still limited by article processing charges (58.51%) as they had no funding for their research.

Although African researchers are embracing open access publishing more now than they were historically, barriers such as article processing charges and the prolonged response time from reviewers continue to pose a serious challenge to open access uptake in Africa. This study proposes five recommendations for improving open access uptake in African and Global South countries.

URL : Open access publishing in an African context: Notable improvements and recurring challenges

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352251351113

EN

Linking Data Citation to Repository Visibility: An Empirical Study

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors  : Fakhri Momeni, Janete Saldanha Bach, Brigitte Mathiak, Peter Mutschke

In today’s data-driven research landscape, dataset visibility and accessibility play a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge. At the same time, data citation is essential for maintaining academic integrity, acknowledging contributions, validating research outcomes, and fostering scientific reproducibility.

As a critical link, it connects scholarly publications with the datasets that drive scientific progress. This study investigates whether repository visibility influences data citation rates. We hypothesize that repositories with higher visibility, as measured by search engine metrics, are associated with increased dataset citations.

Using OpenAlex data and repository impact indicators (including the visibility index from Sistrix, the h-index of repositories, and citation metrics such as mean and median citations), we analyze datasets in Social Sciences and Economics to explore their relationship. Our findings suggest that datasets hosted on more visible web domains tend to receive more citations, with a positive correlation observed between web domain visibility and dataset citation counts, particularly for datasets with at least one citation. However, when analyzing domain-level citation metrics, such as the h-index, mean, and median citations, the correlations are inconsistent and weaker.

While higher visibility domains tend to host datasets with greater citation impact, the distribution of citations across datasets varies significantly. These results suggest that while visibility plays a role in increasing citation counts, it is not the sole factor influencing dataset citation impact. Other elements, such as dataset quality, research trends, and disciplinary norms, can also contribute to citation patterns.

URL : Linking Data Citation to Repository Visibility: An Empirical Study

DOI : https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.09530

EN

Works-magnet: Accelerating Metadata Curation for Open Science

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Author : Eric Jeangirard

The transition to Open Science necessitates robust and reliable metadata. While national initiatives, such as the French Open Science Monitor, aim to track this evolution using open data, reliance on proprietary databases persists in many places. Open platforms like OpenAlex still require significant human intervention for data accuracy.

This paper introduces Works-magnet, a project by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR) Data Science & Engineering Team. Works-magnet is designed to accelerate the curation of bibliographic and research data metadata, particularly affiliations, by making automated AI calculations visible and correctable.

It addresses challenges related to metadata heterogeneity, complex processing chains, and the need for human curation in a diverse research landscape. The paper details Works-magnet’s concepts, and the observed limitations, while outlining future directions for enhancing open metadata quality and reusability.

The works-magnet app is open source on github this https URL

Arxiv : https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.14430

EN

Attitudes towards Open Access Books in the European Research Area

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Authors : Gabriela Manist, Maciej Mary, Magdalena Wnuk

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of publishing Open Access (OA) books within the European Research Area (ERA), drawing on data collected through the PALOMERA project. Despite the growing interest in OA books, the landscape remains fragmented due to a lack of clear policies.

National policies are often sparse, with institutional and funder mandates typically focused on journal articles rather than monographs. An issue also highlighted is the marginalisation of non-English language works, which receive significantly less visibility than English-language publications.

Additionally, the perceived prestige of OA monographs remains a concern, with some scholars viewing them as less reputable than traditionally published works. This paper synthesises findings from 42 in-depth interviews to offer an overview of the current state of OA book publishing in Europe. It identifies areas for policy improvement to foster a more inclusive and sustainable OA landscape.

URL : Attitudes towards Open Access Books in the European Research Area

DOI : https://doi.org/10.53377/lq.21719