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Publication fees for open access journals: Different disciplines—different methods

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Many authors appear to think that most open access (OA) journals charge authors for their publications. This brief communication examines the basis for such beliefs and finds it wanting. Indeed, in this study of over 9,000 OA journals included in the Directory of Open Access Journals, only 28% charged authors for publishing in their journals. This figure, however, was highest in various disciplines in medicine (47%) and the sciences (43%) and lowest in the humanities (4%) and the arts (0%).

URL : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.22972/full

EN

Scholarship 2.0: Analyzing scholars’ use of Web 2.0 tools in research and teaching activity

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Over the past 15 years the Web has transformed the ways in which we search for information and use it. In more recent years, we have seen the emergence of a new array of innovative tools that collectively go under the name of ‘Web 2.0’, in which the information user is also increasingly an information producer (i.e., prosumer), by sharing or creating content.

The success of Web 2.0 tools for personal use is only partially replicated in the professional sphere and, particularly, in the academic environment in relation with research and teaching.

To date, very few studies have explored the level of adoption of Web 2.0 among academic researchers in their research and teaching activity. It is not known in what way how and how much Web 2.0 is currently used within research communities, and we are not aware of the drivers and the drawbacks of the use of Web 2.0 tools in academia, where the majority of people is focused either on research or on teaching activities.

To analyse these issues, i.e. the combined adoption of Web 2.0 tools in teaching and research, the authors carried out a survey among teaching and researching staff of the University of Breda in The Netherlands. This country was chosen mainly because it is on the cutting edge as far as innovation is concerned. An important driver in choosing the Breda University’s academic community was the fact that one of the two authors of this survey works as senior researcher at this university.

The purpose of our survey was to explore the level of adoption of Web 2.0 tools among the academic communities. We were interested in investigating how they were using these tools in the creation of scientific knowledge both in their research and teaching activity. We were also interested in analysing differences in the level of adoption of Web 2.0 tools with regard to researchers’ position, age, gender, and research field.

Finally, in our study we explored the issue of peer reviewing in the Web 2.0 setting. In particular, we investigated whether social peer review is regarded by researchers as a viable alternative to the current closed peer review system (single-blind or double blind).

We approached about 60 staff members, but only 12 faculty members completed the survey fully. This means that our results can only be regarded as exploratory, but we still believe that they represent a complementary perspective with respect to previous studies. »

URL : http://liber.library.uu.nl/index.php/lq/article/view/8108

Non classé

Analysis of Open Access Scholarly Journals in Media…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Analysis of Open Access Scholarly Journals in Media & Communication :

« The paper gives an account of the origin and development of the Open Access Initiative and explains the concept of open access publishing. It also highlight various facets related to the open access scholarly publishing in the field of Media & Communication on the basis of data collected from the most authoritative online directory of open access journals, i.e., Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ covers 8492 open access journals of which 106 journals are listed under the subject heading ‘Media & Communication’. Most of the open access journals in Media & Communication were started during late 1990s and are being published from 34 different countries on 6 continents in 13 different languages. More than 80 % open access journals are being published by the not-for-profit sector such as academic institutions and universities. »

URL : http://publications.drdo.gov.in/ojs/index.php/djlit/article/view/5106

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Data sharing and its implications for academic libraries…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Data sharing and its implications for academic libraries :

« Purpose : As an important aspect of the scientific process, research data sharing is the practice of making data used for scholarly research publicly available for use by other researchers. This paper seeks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the data-sharing challenges and opportunities posed by the data deluge in academics. An attempt is made to discuss implications for the changing role and functioning of academic libraries.

Design/methodology/approach : An extensive review of literature on current trends and the impact of data sharing are performed.

Findings : The context in which the increasing demands for data sharing have arisen is presented. Some of the practices, trends, and issues central to data sharing among academics are presented. Emerging implications for academic libraries that are expected to provide a data service are discussed.

Originality/value : An insightful review and synthesis of context, issues, and trends in data sharing will help academic libraries to plan and develop programs and policies for their data services. »

URL : http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0307-4803&volume=114&issue=11&articleid=17097171&show=abstract

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Defining and characterizing open peer review a review…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Defining and characterizing open peer review: a review of the literature :

« Changes in scholarly publishing have resulted in a move toward openness. To this end, new, open models of peer review are emerging. While the scholarly literature has examined and discussed open peer review, no established definition of it exists, nor are there uniform implementations of open peer review processes. This article examines the literature discussing open peer review, identifies common open peer review definitions, and describes eight common characteristics of open peer review: signed review, disclosed review, editor-mediated review, transparent review, crowdsourced review, prepublication review, synchronous review, and post-publication review. This article further discusses benefits and challenges to the scholarly publishing community posed by open peer review, and concludes that open peer review can and should exist within the current scholarly publishing paradigm. »

URL : http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/ulib_fac/1/

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Digital Copyright and Public Access: Why the Knowledge Principle Dictates a Fair Access Right for Public Libraries

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

This Article argues that copyright jurisprudence has lost sight of the knowledge principle at the heart of the Constitutional justification for copyright. The Framers envisioned the objective of copyright as promoting the advancement of knowledge for a democratic society by increasing access to published works.

Under what is best termed the “knowledge principle,” access to existing knowledge is a necessary condition for the creation of new knowledge. Copyright jurisprudence has largely protected the interests of producers – from early booksellers to modern Hollywood film companies – failing to notice the central role of access to works as a necessary pre-condition to the creation of new works.

The realities of the digital era further hinder the functioning of this mechanism. Ownership of copies of texts has morphed into a limited right of possession of digital files. Public libraries can no longer fulfill their mission of maximizing the circulation of materials in order to spread available knowledge among citizens.

This Article proposes an alternative model to the conventional copyright theories, focusing on the critical role that access to knowledge resources plays in the dynamic processes at work in the production of knowledge and the creation of new works.

This Article proposes a non-waivable “fair access” right exercisable by public libraries in order to realign copyright with its Constitutional justification, and more importantly to support the knowledge creation process for the future of our democratic society.

URL : http://ssrn.com/abstract=2315188

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Researchers and scholarly communications: an evolving interdependency

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Scholarly communication is not just about communication. It is not the final stage of the publication process, solely a means of providing the ‘minutes of science’. Rather, it is a vital part of the research process itself, inspiring researchers along new avenues of discovery and enabling the creation of connections between concepts and people.

The ways in which researchers disseminate their research have changed and developed over the four centuries since the launch of the first scientific journals. But it can be argued that scholarly communication has in turn affected the way in which researchers behave.

This chapter explores some of the interaction and interdependencies between researchers and scholarly communication. It also describes how the move to online, electronic publishing might further influence the research process.

URL : http://eprints.rclis.org/19914/