Open access publishing a catalyst for scholarly research…

Open access publishing: a catalyst for scholarly research publication :

“Technology has been a key driving force for change and emergence of new technology has brought a revolution in disseminating and sharing of research outputs at faster speed worldwide. Open access (OA) as a means for free availability of scholarly content via the Internet has enormous benefits accrue to the OA stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to review all activities that can sensitize researchers and the scholarly community at large regarding the new publishing opportunity for dissemination of their research outputs at faster speed. The paper examines the open access OA concept, characteristics of OA and its growth. It also discusses open access models, OA benefits and copyright in digital era. Critical analysis of the rational for copyright law and fair for dealing were examined. It was inferred that OA as an accelerator for innovation, helps speedy the translation of ideas into innovative new services, products and other commercial ventures that fuel economic growth.”

URL : http://www.idpublications.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Paper-Open-access-publishing.pdf

The Critical Role of Institutional Services in Open…

The Critical Role of Institutional Services in Open Access Advocacy :

“This paper examines the development of the Open Access movement in scholarly communication, with particular attention to some of the rhetorical strategies and policy mechanisms used to promote it to scholars and scientists. Despite the majority of journal publishers’ acceptance of author self-archiving practices, and the minimal time commitment required by authors to successfully self-archive their work in disciplinary or institutional repositories, the majority of authors still by and large avoid participation. The paper reviews the strategies and arguments used for increasing author participation in open access, including the role of open access mandates. We recommend a service-oriented approach towards increasing participation in open access, rather than rhetoric that speculates on the benefits that open access will have on text/data mining innovation. In advocating for open access participation, we recommend focusing on its most universal and tangible purpose: increasing public open (gratis) access to the published results of publicly funded research. Researchers require strong institutional support to understand the copyright climate of open access self-archiving, user-friendly interfaces and useful metrics, such as repository usage statistics. We recommend that mandates and well-crafted and responsive author support services at universities will ultimately be required to ensure the growth of open access. We describe the mediated deposit service that was developed to support author self-archiving in Spectrum: Concordia University Research Repository. By comparing the number of deposits of non-thesis materials (e.g. articles and conference presentations) that were accomplished through the staff-mediated deposit service to the number of deposits that were author-initiated, we demonstrate the relative significance of this service to the growth of the repository.”

URL : http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/view/8.1.84

Open Access Publishing in Canada Current and Future…

Open Access Publishing in Canada: Current and Future Library and University Press Supports :

“Canadian university libraries, Canadian university presses, and non-university scholarly presses at Canadian universities were surveyed in the first part of 2010 as to the level of their support of Open Access (OA) journal publishing. Respondents were asked about journal hosting services in their organization as well as their thoughts on internal and external support for open access publishing. Results showed that most of the organizations are hosting OA journals, largely between one and five in number, and many supply journal hosting services, including some technical support. Personnel resources are a notable factor in the ability to host journals. Most respondents engage in some sort of internal support for open access publishing and are open to options that they are presently not utilizing. They are particularly amenable to OA publishing support from outside of their organizations, especially assistance at a consortial level.”

URL : http://www.mdpi.com/2304-6775/1/1/27

Incentives Integration and Mediation Sustainable Practices for Populating…

Incentives, Integration, and Mediation: Sustainable Practices for Populating Repositories:

“There is an active, thriving community of open access repositories worldwide and their visibility is rising as funding agencies and governments implement open access policies. Still, repositories must continue to adopt strategies that demonstrate their value to the wider research community. Therefore COAR has now published the report, “Incentives, Integration, and Mediation: Sustainable Practices for Population Repositories”. It profiles a variety of successful practices for populating repositories from around the world. Aim of thie report is to assist the global repository community in implementing sustainable methods for recruiting content. The profiles were gathered from organizations across the globe, and represent a mixture of approaches involving the introduction of incentives; integration of the repository with other institutional services; and/or mediation of the deposit process. The practices reflect a tradition of innovation and openness in the repository community, and are characterized by creative approaches to staffing, imaginative software developments, and adoption of novel policies.”

URL : http://www.coar-repositories.org/activities/repository-content/sustainable-practices-for-populating-repositories-report/

Open Access The Internet lets us share…

Open Access :

“The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work “open access”: digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the Internet and copyright-holder consent, and many authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators who depend on royalties are understandably unwilling to give their consent. But for 350 years, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue. In this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn’t, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold. Distilling a decade of Suber’s influential writing and thinking about open access, this is the indispensable book on the subject for researchers, librarians, administrators, funders, publishers, and policy makers.”

URL : http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/open-access

Where on earth to publish A sample survey…

Where on earth to publish? A sample survey comparing traditional and open access publishing in the oncological field :

Background : The paper intends to help scientific authors to make the best choice of journals in which to publish, by describing and comparing journal features in the area of oncology. For this purpose, the authors identified impact factor (IF) ranking, cost options and copyright conditions offered to authors wishing to publish in full open access (OA), subscription-based or hybrid journals.

Methods : Data referring to articles published in 2010 by three Italian research institutions (National Institute of Health – Rome (ISS), Regina Elena National Cancer Institute – Rome (IRE), National Cancer Institute – Milan (INT) in journals (78) managed according to different business models, all listed in the Journal Citation Reports, subject category Oncology, were collected and analysed. The journals surveyed were ranked according to IF, position in quartiles, publication charges, usage rights in published articles, self-archiving conditions in OAI-compliant repositories digital archives.

Results : Almost half (34) the journals surveyed were included in the first quartile, thus revealing authors’ preference for journals with a high IF. The prevalent journal business model was the hybrid formula (based on subscriptions but also offering a paid OA option) with 51 journals, followed by subscription-based only journals accounting for 22, while just 5 full OA journals were identified. In general, no relationship was found between IF and article publication charges, in terms of correspondence between more expensive fees and higher IF.

Conclusions : The issue of OA journals as compared with traditional subscription-based journals is highly debated among stakeholders: library administrators facing financial restrictions, authors seeking to locate the best outlet for their research, publishers wishing to increase their revenues by offering journals with wider appeal. Against this background, factors such as the quest for alternatives to high-cost business models, investments in setting up institutional repositories hosting the published versions of articles and efforts to overcome copyright barriers and gain free access to scientific literature are all crucial.”

URL : http://www.jeccr.com/content/32/1/4

Advancing the Business of Information Open Access Market…

Advancing the Business of Information Open Access: Market Size, Share, Forecast, and Trends :

“No debate has shaken scientific publishing in the past 20 years quite like the open access movement. Awareness has risen in the popular press, in the UK’s House of Commons, in funding bodies, and in places of research. Underlying the debate is the decades-long concern about the publishing model of peer-review processes, their fairness and their impact on the flow of research, knowledge, and discovery in society. The open access movement continues to morph as it challenges traditional modes of scholarly publishing and changes the way most major players in the space approach their futures. In this report, which is an update to Outsell’s An Open Access Primer – Market Size and Trends (published September 21, 2009), we analyze the market’s size in terms of revenue, examine both gold and hybrid journals, consider the future of green OA, and present a revenue forecast for open access-sourced journal revenue for 2013 to 2015. To underpin our projections, we provide analysis of which competitors control significant shares of the market — and which new entrants are particularly on trend and worth watching. Open access publishing is here to stay, but its evolution and ability to overtake existing subscription models remains an open question. Outsell’s goal is to cut through the noise and provide insights that support healthy and forward-looking business strategies for all stakeholders in this space — including publishers, policymakers, funders, authors and researchers, technology providers, and investors.”

URL : http://img.en25.com/Web/CopyrightClearanceCenterInc/%7B1eced16c-2f3a-47de-9ffd-f6a659abdb2a%7D_Outsell_Open_Access_Report_01312013.pdf