FR

Main basse sur la science publique : Le «coût de génie» de l’édition scientifique privée

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Imaginez un monde où les chercheurs des établissements publics de recherche et des universités seraient rétribués individuellement en fonction de leur contribution au chiffre d’affaire d’un oligopole de grands groupes privés, et où les moyens humains et financiers affectés à leurs recherches en dépendraient.

Projet d’un think-tank ultra-libéral, voire science-fiction pensez-vous ?… ou alors cas particulier de quelques fraudes liées à l’industrie du médicament ? Non, non, regardez bien autour de vous, c’est déjà le cas, dans l’ensemble du monde scientifique (sciences de la nature, médicales, agronomiques…), et ce à l’insu de la grande majorité des gens, et de trop de chercheurs ! Mais une prise de conscience est en train de s’opérer et une bataille s’engage sur tous les continents. »

URL : http://www.inra.cgt.fr/actions/revendications/Main_basse_sur_la_Science.pdf

EN

The ethics of open access publishing

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Should those who work on ethics welcome or resist moves to open access publishing? This paper analyses arguments in favour and against the increasing requirement for open access publishing and considers their implications for bioethics research. In the context of biomedical science, major funders are increasingly mandating open access as a condition of funding and such moves are also common in other disciplines.

Whilst there has been some debate about the implications of open-access for the social sciences and humanities, there has been little if any discussion about the implications of open access for ethics. This is surprising given both the central role of public reason and critique in ethics and the fact that many of the arguments made for and against open access have been couched in moral terms.

In what follows I argue that those who work in ethics have a strong interest in supporting moves towards more open publishing approaches which have the potential both to inform and promote richer and more diverse forms of public deliberation and to be enriched by them. The importance of public deliberation in practical and applied ethics suggests that ethicists have a particular interest in the promotion of diverse and experimental forms of publication and debate and in supporting new, more creative and more participatory approaches to publication.

URL : http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/14/16/abstract

Non classé

La valorisation sur Internet du patrimoine scientifique étude…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

La valorisation sur Internet du patrimoine scientifique : étude des besoins. Le cas de la médiathèque scientifique de l’Institut Pasteur :

« La Médiathèque scientifique de l’Institut Pasteur vient d’initier une réflexion sur l’opportunité de mettre en place une bibliothèque numérique pour valoriser des documents patrimoniaux internes. Dans un premier temps, ce projet nous a amenés à nous interroger sur la définition, les caractéristiques et les enjeux du patrimoine scientifique en France. Nous avons ensuite effectué une étude des besoins de l’Institut Pasteur afin de mettre en relief différents objectifs possibles et par conséquent plusieurs scénarios de valorisation sur Internet. Une méthodologie d’étude des besoins et de faisabilité est présentée. »

URL : http://memsic.ccsd.cnrs.fr/mem_00803701

Non classé

Open Access versus Traditional Journal Pricing Using a…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Open Access versus Traditional Journal Pricing: Using a Simple “Platform Market” Model to Understand Which Will Win (and Which Should) :

« Economists have built a theory to understand markets in which, rather than selling directly to buyers, suppliers sell through a platform, which controls prices on both sides. The theory has been applied to understand markets ranging from telephony, to credit cards, to media. In this paper, we apply the theory to the market for scholarly journals, with the journal functioning as the platform between submitting authors and subscribing readers. Our goal is to understand the conditions under which a journal would prefer open access to traditional pricing and under which open access would be better for the scholarly community. Our new model captures much of the richness of the existing economic literature on journal pricing, and indeed adds some fresh insights, yet is simple enough to be accessible to a broad audience. »

URL : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2012.11.035

EN

Open Access Initiatives in Africa — Structure, Incentives and Disincentives

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Building open access in Africa is imperative not only for African scholars and researchers doing scientific research but also for the expansion of the global science and technology knowledgebase. This paper examines the structure of homegrown initiatives, and observes very low level of awareness prevailing in the higher educational institutions and research institutes, organizations and governments.

Increasing penetration of internet as well as growing proficiency in its use account for any evidence of OA movement in the region. The absence of interest and willingness of governments and policy makers to take a role in building the movement in the region makes any observed progress a fragmented one.

URL : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2012.11.024

EN

Diffusing scientific knowledge to innovative experts

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Communicating science to scientists works well thanks to well-defined communication structures based on both printed material in peer-reviewed publications and oral presentations, e.g. at conferences and seminars.

However, when science is communicated to practitioners, the structures become fuzzy. We are looking at how to implement Web2.0 technologies to Danish seed scientists communicating to seed consultants, agricultural advisors, and seed growers, and we are met with the challenge of securing effective knowledge diffusion to the community.

Our investigation’s focal point is on Rogers’ theoretical framework “Diffusion of Innovation” (DOI), as we look at how DOI may affect the Danish seed industry if science communication is redesigned in accordance with the framework. During our project workshop, participants recognized trends and characteristics from DOI in the Danish seed community and argued for more collaboration between scientists and practitioners.

This can be done by implementing fast-learning via online website, but it needs to be assisted by slowerpaced face-to-face learning to lessen the risk of a digital knowledge divide within the community.

URL : http://jcom.sissa.it/archive/12/01/JCOM1201%282013%29A03

Non classé

Adding Value to Electronic Theses and Dissertations in…

Posted on by Hans Dillaerts

Adding Value to Electronic Theses and Dissertations in Institutional Repositories :

« Part of the grey literature, electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) represent a growing segment of open, available content in institutional repositories (IR) where they contribute to the impact and ranking of their institution. More than half of all IRs listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories contain ETDs. Most of these open access projects have similarities and common features, such as access to full text and compliance with the OAI metadata harvesting protocol. But more important are the differences, with regard to metadata, policy, access restrictions, representativeness, file format, status, quality and related services. In this paper, we investigate what can be done to improve the quality of content and service provision in an open environment, in order to increase impact, traffic and usage. Based on a review of 54 recent communications and articles on PhD theses in institutional repositories, this paper shows five ways in which institutions can add value to the deposit and dissemination of electronic theses and dissertations and describes two developments that are challenging institutional repositories. »

URL : http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march13/schopfel/03schopfel.html