Principles of the Self Journal of Science: bringing ethics and freedom to scientific publishing

I present the core principles of the “Self-Journal of Science” (SJS), an open repository as well as a new paradigm of scientific publication. Rooted in Science ethics, a full and consistent solution is proposed to address the many flaws in current systems. SJS implements an optimal peer review, which itself becomes a measurable process, and builds an objective and unfalsifiable evaluation system.

In addition, it can operate at very low costs. One of the essential features of SJS is to allow every scientist to play his full role as a member of the scientific community and to be credited for all contributions – whether as author, referee, or editor. The output is the responsibility of each scientist, and no subgroup can dictate scientific policy to all.

By fully opening up the process of publication, peer pressure becomes the force that drives output towards the highest quality in a virtuous self-regulating circle. SJS also provides a self-organizing and scalable solution to handle an ever-increasing number of articles.

URL : Principles of the Self Journal of Science: bringing ethics and freedom to scientific publishing

Alternative location : http://www.sjscience.org/article?id=46

Acceptance and Adoption of Open Access Publication (OAP) in University Libraries in South East Nigeria

This study examines the kinds of open access scholarly publication or information resources accepted and adopted by federal university libraries in South East Nigeria. The purpose was to determine the factors that affect open access scholarly publication or information resources acceptance and adoption in university libraries.

The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Findings revealed that university libraries accepts and adopts open access such as  institutional repository, open journals, subject repository, e-books, personal websites among others with the use of computers, internet facilities and services among others.

Inadequate internet facilities and services were identified as a major factor that affects open access acceptance and adoption in university libraries. The study concluded that open access scholarly communication or information resources are vital tool of solving not only financial problems in libraries in general and university libraries in particular but also enable university libraries to keep pace with information explosion or changing trends in libraries.

Based on this, it recommends that university libraries should ensure that users are provided with adequate and quality open access information resources for there is a need for access and use of information materials in all formats and acceptance and adoption of open access information resources could incite users to quickly access and utilize university library resources to a high extent.

URL : Acceptance and Adoption of Open Access Publication (OAP) in University Libraries in South East Nigeria

Alternative location : http://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEP/article/view/27291

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

Implementing Institutional Repository in Nigerian Universities : Status, Challenges, Prospects, and the Role of Librarians & Libraries

This is a report of the study carried out in late 2013. In this paper, the authors identify the extent of adoption of Institutional Repository (IR) in various universities through an online survey. Concepts of institutional repository (IR) and institutional memory (IM) are clarified. It lays down the findings from the survey.

The paper also explains the essential elements of IR, Service Model of IR, prospects and challenges of IR in Nigerian universities, IR implementation strategies; including the role of the libraries and librarians.

Findings reveal that as at the time of study world IR presence numbers 3479. Nigeria has only nine (9) Universities representing just 0.23% of the world IR. But some African countries’ universities have more. South Africa alone had 40, which amounts to 1.15% of the world Institutional Repositories as at then. The paper concludes with recommendations on the ways Nigerian universities could overcome the barrier in IR implementation.

URL : http://www.jatlim.org/Volumes/Vol.1%20No.1/Jonathan.pdf

The role of arXiv, RePEc, SSRN and PMC in formal scholarly communication

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Purposes 

The four major Subject Repositories (SRs), arXiv, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and PubMed Central (PMC), are all important within their disciplines but no previous study has systematically compared how often they are cited in academic publications. In response, this article reports an analysis of citations to SRs from Scopus publications, 2000 to 2013.

Design/methodology/approach

Scopus searches were used to count the number of documents citing the four SRs in each year. A random sample of 384 documents citing the four SRs was then visited to investigate the nature of the citations.

Findings

Each SR was most cited within its own subject area but attracted substantial citations from other subject areas, suggesting that they are open to interdisciplinary uses. The proportion of documents citing each SR is continuing to increase rapidly, and the SRs all seem to attract substantial numbers of citations from more than one discipline.

Research limitations/implications

Scopus does not cover all publications, and most citations to documents found in the four SRs presumably cite the published version, when one exists, rather than the repository version.

Practical implications

SRs are continuing to grow and do not seem to be threatened by Institutional Repositories (IRs) and so research managers should encourage their continued use within their core disciplines, including for research that aims at an audience in other disciplines.

Originality/value

This is the first simultaneous analysis of Scopus citations to the four most popular SRs.

URL : http://www.yorku.ca/lixuemei/The_role_of_subject_repositories_AslibPreprint.docx

Institutional policy implementation at University of Minho, Portugal

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This case study describes the implementation process of the Open Access institutional policy at the University of Minho (UMinho), Portugal. Starting with a brief introduction about the institution, in terms of its academic community and research, the document then provides a detailed description of the steps taken to implement the UMinho’s institutional repository (the IR) and the Open Access policy. We highlight the main goals which oriented the implementation of the repository, the devised communication plan, the value-added services created for authors, and finally, the engagement within the international community in these areas.

Regarding the Open Access policy, we present a brief summary of the main points of the self-archiving policy, approved late 2004, and also point out the main additions to the policy when it was upgraded in 2011.
This case study also provides some figures and tables about the results of the various monitoring processes carried out by the University of Minho Documentation Services to follow-up and measure policy compliance.
In summary, since the beginning of 2004 with the IR implementation, several initiatives have been taking place with the purpose of increasing the number of deposited documents. The Open Access policy adoption was, definitely, the main success factor amongst all the other initiatives and efforts.

URL : Institutional policy implementation at University of Minho, Portugal

Alternative location : http://www.pasteur4oa.eu/sites/pasteur4oa/files/resource/Case%20Study_UMinho.pdf

The Future of Institutional Repositories at Small Academic Institutions: Analysis and Insights

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Institutional repositories (IRs) established at universities and academic libraries over a decade ago, large and small, have encountered challenges along the way in keeping faith with their original objective: to collect, preserve, and disseminate the intellectual output of an institution in digital form. While all institutional repositories have experienced the same obstacles relating to a lack of faculty participation, those at small universities face unique challenges.

This article examines causes of low faculty contribution to IR content growth, particularly at small academic institutions. It also offers a first-hand account of building and developing an institutional repository at a small university. The article concludes by suggesting how institutional repositories at small academic institutions can thrive by focusing on classroom teaching and student experiential learning, strategic priorities of their parent institutions.

URL : http://www.dlib.org/dlib/september15/wu/09wu.html