Catégorie : EN

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Opening the Black Box of Scholarly Communication Funding: A Public Data Infrastructure for Financial Flows in Academic Publishing

« Public access to publicly funded research » has been one of the rallying calls of the global open access movement. Governments and public institutions around the world have mandated that publications supported by public funding sources should be publicly accessible. Publishers are experimenting with new models to widen access.

Yet financial flows underpinning scholarly publishing remain complex and opaque. In this paper we present work to trace and reassemble a picture of financial flows around the publication of journals in the UK in the midst of a national shift towards open access.

We contend that the current lack of financial transparency around scholarly communication is an obstacle to evidence-based policy-making – leaving researchers, decision-makers and institutions in the dark about the systemic implications of new financial models.

We conclude that obtaining a more joined up picture of financial flows is vital as a means for researchers, institutions and others to understand and shape changes to the sociotechnical systems that underpin scholarly communication.

URL : http://ssrn.com/abstract=2690570

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EN

Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Croatia

There is a vibrant Open Access environment in Croatia and several academic and research institutions initiate different activities concerning open access to the scientific information (Ruđer Bošković Institute, School of Medicine, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Faculty of Organization and Informatics at University of Zagreb, University of Zadar, University of Osijek, National and University Library, etc.). It is very important to improve collaboration among different stakeholders, as well as to provide top-down guidance harmonized with EU practices.

Important blocks of the existing Open Access research infrastructure are presented in the paper: the Croatian Scientific Bibliography CROSBI, the Croatian portal for Open Access journals HRČAK, and the common infrastructure for digital academic repositories DABAR. Future development of Open Access infrastructure in Croatia is discussed.

URL : http://dipp2015.math.bas.bg/images/lecturers/abstracts/Jadranka_Stojanovski_DiPP2015_abstract.pdf

 

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EN

Search Engines and Alternative Data Sources in Webometric Research: An Exploratory Study

Web contents are interlinked at each other through hyperlinks. Inter-linking nature of web explores significant sources of information. In the context of exploring hyper-linking behaviour of the web and retrieving relevant information, search engines and web crawlers play a predominant role as data sources but search engines had mostly withdrawn their supports after December 2011. An attempt has taken to evaluate search engines (Google, AoL, Bing, Yahoo!) using some criteria and found that AoL has the highest coverage among these search engines.

The paper also identifies various alternative data sources to carry out webometric research. The finding of the study shows that majestic.com is a predominant and comprehensive data source among alternative data sources in webometric research.

URL : Search Engines and Alternative Data Sources in Webometric Research: An Exploratory Study

Alternative location : http://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/djlit/article/view/8883

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EN

Open access disciplinary repository in S&T: a potentiality study for SAARC countries

Most of the SAARC countries are unable to subscribe to high-priced research publications. Open access disciplinary repositories could provide them access to latest research results of any discipline. The objectives of this study are to find out the potentiality/possibility of developing open access disciplinary repositories for SAARC countries and provide suggestions for development of the same. Data were collected through a web search and then analysed. The article first discusses the current status of open access in the SAARC countries.

Then, it presents a brief statistics of research output of the SAARC countries as found in Web of Science along with the collaboration pattern amongst SAARC countries. It also presents research output from these countries in terms of patents granted as found in the WIPO web site. The study reveals that it is possible to develop disciplinary repositories for SAARC countries as sufficient material is available with them.

URL : http://www.currentscience.ac.in/php/forthcoming/GA13348.pdf

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EN

A new scholar’s perspective on open peer review

This article argues that the pedagogical and scholarly benefits of open peer review far outweigh those of traditional double-blind peer review, but require a shift in our perspective of the function and value of peer review – from a gate-keeping process, toward a supportive, constructive process of collaboration between peers and mentors.

URL : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1085857

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EN

Research Data Management in the Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The increase of digital content in the broad areas of Institutional and domain specific Repositories, Libraries, Archives and Museums and the increased interest in the sharing and preservation of « research data » have triggered the emergence of new roles such as Data Curator. The paper refers about the on-going investigation of current data curator education and training programs with regard to the role of information professionals and/or data scientists in the research lifecycle.

The investigation has been based on a series of workshops and events discussing the concerns of researchers and teachers about digital library and digital curation. A first list of competencies and skills at technical and operational level that professionals should have, has been evidenced. The theoretical framework and structure of educational programmes should have sufficient flexibility to accommodate the needs of various groups of specialists.

URL : http://works.bepress.com/annamaria_tammaro/32/

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EN

Library support for open access journal publishing: a needs analysis

The aim of this study was to establish the role of academic libraries in the context of open access (OA) journal publishing, based on the perceived needs of the journals and/or their editors. As a study sample, 14 OA journals affiliated to the University of Zürich, Switzerland, were taken. They were very different in nature, ranging from well-established society journals to newly founded titles launched by dedicated individuals. The study comprised two approaches: a comprehensive journal assessment and subsequent editor interviews.

The journal assessments evaluated the functionalities, ease of use, sustainability and visibility of the journal. The interviews were used to get additional background information about the journals and explore editors’ needs, experiences and viewpoints. The results show that journals affiliated to publishing houses or libraries are technically well provided for. Unaffiliated journals offer fewer functionalities and display some unconventional features, often described as innovations by the editors. More resources – financial or human – is seen by nearly all editors as the most pressing need and as a limitation to growth.

In comparison, IT/technical needs are mentioned much less often. The article also describes the launch of an Editors’ Forum, an idea suggested by the editors and implemented by the library. This Forum offered further valuable insight into the potential role of libraries, but also specifically addressed several of the editors’ needs as expressed in the interviews.

URL : Library support for open access journal publishing: a needs analysis

DOI : http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.256