1 and 2 July 2013 – The British Library, London

“The two-day international conference, organised by JISC Collections in partnership with Open Access Publishing in European Networks (OAPEN) Foundation, is intended for all stakeholders in scholarly communications including researchers, publishers, librarians, senior institutional managers, learned societies and European research funders.”

“Sponsored by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and hosted by The British Library, this conference will be the first to tackle open access monographs in the humanities and social sciences head on.”

“Key topics of the conference will include new open access business models, maintaining quality, the future of peer-review, creative commons licensing and international policy development.”

“OAPEN is pleased to announce that the registration for the Open Access Monograph conference is now open. Please go to http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/JISC-Collections-events/oabooksconf/ for the full programme and online registration.”

[Source OAPEN news:  http://project.oapen.org/index.php/news/53-open-access-monographs-in-the-humanities-and-social-sciences-conference ]

“Research Councils UK (RCUK) has published the latest version of its guidance for its revised Policy on Open Access, which comes in to effect on 1 April 2013.”

“This latest version draws the policy and the guidance together into one document and aims to give researchers, research organisations as well as publishers further clarity on the implementation of the policy.”

“RCUK is keen to continue to engage with its stakeholders on the development of the guidance, so is inviting organisations to provide further input to this version where aspects may still not be clear. RCUK will then revise the guidance further to take into account these clarifications.”

The deadline for further input is Wednesday 20 March 2013. Input should be sent directly to Alexandra Saxon by email to Alexandra.Saxon@rcuk.ac.uk.

The RCUK Policy and Guidance on Open access is available at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/RCUKOpenAccessPolicyandRevisedguidance.pdf 

[Source RCUK News: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/2013news/Pages/130305.aspx ]

In RWB 417 in November 2012 I reported on the first articles to be published by eLife,  a new open access journal.  The website for the journal has now been launched “revealing a fresh approach to presenting and using scientific content”.

“In June 2011, three leading research funders came together in a unique collaboration to inspire change in science communication. The first product of this partnership is ‘eLife’, an open-access journal for the most influential research in life science and biomedicine.”

“The eLife website invites visitors to explore important new research and associated data, read comments and commentary by experts and colleagues, and get a sense of the quality of work that ‘eLife’ is publishing.”

“The new site also offers a chance to explore how eLife is taking advantage of digital media. The presentation of content is clean and distraction-free, allowing authors to present the results of their research in full, and inviting readers to delve deeply into the work by exploring figures and their supplements, watching videos, reading editor decision letters and author responses, downloading datasets, viewing article-level metrics, and more. All of this is a starting point, as eLife will continue to solicit feedback from the community in making the presentation as accessible and usable as possible.”

To view the website go to: http://www.elifesciences.org/

[Source Wellcome Trust News:  http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2012/WTP041068.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“A landmark project that has sequenced 1092 human genomes from individuals around the world will help researchers to interpret the genetic changes in people with disease. The first study to break the ’1000 genomes barrier’ will enable scientists to begin to examine genetic variations at the scale of the populations of individual countries, as well as guiding them in their search for the rare genetic variations related to many diseases.”

“Most genetic variation is shared with populations around the world, but it is thought that a lot of the contribution to disease may come from rare variants of genes (found in 1 in 100 people or fewer). Researchers need to find these rare variants to see who has them and work out how they might contribute to a range of conditions, from multiple sclerosis to heart disease and cancer.”

“The international team behind the 1000 Genomes Project found that rare gene variants tend to be restricted to particular geographic regions. This is because they typically arise from recent mutations, which have occurred since humans spread across the world.”

A report of the research has been published (Open Access) in the journal ‘Nature‘.

Altshuler DM et al. An integrated map of genetic variation from 1,092 human genomes. Nature 2012 (epub ahead of print). http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v491/n7422/full/nature11632.html

[Source Wellcome Trust news:  http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2012/News/WTP040598.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Five major research centres have expanded their commitment to make data more accessible through the British Library’s DataCite service, a global initiative which addresses the problem of how to find, access and re-use the results of research. The Archaeology Data Service, the UK Data Archive, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Science & Technology Facilities Council and the Chinese genomics institute BGI have signed up to the service and are the first institutions to work with the British Library on this initiative.”

“Data from the participating organisations, which spans information derived from ice cores to gene sequences, cultural heritage to current populations, will be marked with DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to enable it to be identified and cited, a system which has been widely used to provide persistent links to academic journal articles. This initiative provides a practical solution to one of the most significant challenges facing researchers today – access to data – an issue highlighted by the Royal Society in a report published in June this year, ‘Science as an open enterprise’, which recommended that scientists should communicate the data they collect in fieldwork and research more widely.”

“The benefits for researchers include:

• Confidence that the link to the data (or information about the data) will be persistently and uniquely identified
• Increased ease of citing data which will, in turn, increase its discovery and access, enabling others to verify the results and validate their own research
• Access to a myriad of new research opportunities which have been out-of-reach until now
• Acknowledgement and credit for sharing data and having it cited”

To find out more about DataCite go to:  http://www.bl.uk/datasets

[Source British Library news:  http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/British-Library-leads-the-way-for-sharing-research-data-in-the-UK-as-five-major-institutions-sign-up-to-DataCite-5d5.aspx

“The highly anticipated open access journal ‘eLife’ has published its first four papers, ahead of the full website launch at the end of 2012. The researcher-led initiative, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust, aims to provide an online open-access forum for the best in science and science communication.”

“The papers’ content is varied, including innovative research about a range of biomedical and life science topics:

• a hormone involved in response to starvation that dramatically increases the lifespan of mice in which it is overexpressed (Zhang et al.)
• a critical signalling molecule involved in the interaction between a species of single-celled organisms and bacteria – an important advance in efforts to understand the evolution of multicellularity (Alegado et al.)
• the results of a two-year field trial that demonstrates how a specific group of chemicals released by plants in response to herbivore attack can increase the fitness of the plants in the Darwinian sense of increasing reproductive success (Schuman et al.)
• how cells cope with the stress of poorly folded proteins and, specifically, how fission yeast deploys the same cellular machinery as other organisms but in a very unusual way (Kimmig et al.).”

“The first four papers are listed on the eLife website, and the full content is available at the online archive of the US National Library of Medicine, PubMed Central (PMC). The papers show the quality of research expected for the new journal for life sciences and biomedicine, while showcasing innovation in science communication.”

eLife website:  http://www.elifesciences.org/

[Source Wellcome Trust news:

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2012/News/WTP040454.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

“Opportunities for apps developers, designers and other digital innovators will be boosted as the digital portal Europeana opens up its dataset of over 20 million cultural objects for free re-use.”

“The massive dataset is the descriptive information about Europe’s digitised treasures. For the first time, the metadata is released under the Creative Commons CC0 Public Domain Dedication, meaning that anyone can use the data for any purpose – creative, educational, commercial – with no restrictions. This release, which is by far the largest one-time dedication of cultural data to the public domain using CC0 offers a new boost to the digital economy, providing electronic entrepreneurs with opportunities to create innovative apps and games for tablets and smartphones and to create new web services and portals.”

“Europeana’s move to CC0 is a step change in open data access. Releasing data from across the memory organisations of every EU country sets an important new international precedent, a decisive move away from the world of closed and controlled data.”

“Importantly, the change represents a valuable contribution to the European Commission’s agenda to drive growth through digital innovation. Online open data is a core resource which can fuel enterprise and create opportunities for millions of Europeans working in Europe’s cultural and creative industries. The sector represents 3.3% of EU GDP and is worth over €150 billion in exports.”

“Europeana – www.europeana.eu – is Europe’s digital library, archive and museum. It currently gives people access to over 20 million books, paintings, films, recordings, photographs and archival records in 29 languages. It represents 2,200 partner organisations, including all the great national collections such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the British Library in London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.”

[Source British Library press release: http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/Europeana-s-huge-cultural-dataset-opens-for-re-use-5ca.aspx ]

“The Wellcome Trust today [28 June] announces that it will be strengthening the manner in which it enforces its open access policy with immediate effect. Failure to comply with the policy could result in final grant payments being withheld and non-compliant publications being discounted when applying for further funding.”

“The Wellcome Trust is committed to ensuring that the published outputs of its funded research are made freely available, so that this knowledge can be built on and used in a manner that maximises health and public benefit.”

“Since 2006, its open access policy has required that all research papers funded in whole or in part by the Wellcome Trust be made available via the UK PubMed Central repository as soon as possible, and in any event within six months of the date of publication. At present, only 55 per cent of research papers acknowledging Wellcome Trust funding comply with its open access policy.”

“From early 2013, the Trust will also require that when it pays an open access fee, a paper is made freely available for all types of re-use (including commercial uses) subject to appropriate acknowledgement. The Trust believes that the full research and economic benefit of published content will only be realised when there are no restrictions on access to, and reuse of, this information. Its goal is to unleash that content while still allowing publishers to recoup their costs in an effective market.”

“The Trust will partner with the Research Councils in taking forward discussions with publishers to implement this change over the coming months.”

[Source Wellcome Trust news: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/Media-office/Press-releases/2012/WTVM055745.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WellcomeTrustNewsAndFeatures+%28Wellcome+Trust+News+and+features%29&utm_content=Google+Reader ]

Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings – the Finch Group

The report, published this week, was commissioned by the Government.   It was compiled by representatives from universities, learned societies, libraries and publishers. It looks at the current environment for accessing publications via subscription, open access, and repositories, describing the issues involved in using each of these models and addressing the concerns of the stakeholders for and against.

Some of the impetus for examining these issues has come from the growth of the ‘Open Access’ (OA) model of publication as the internet has transformed how we search for information, and revolutionised ease of access.  There is also concern that publically funded research should not be paid for again by the reader, or by institutions eg universities, public libraries on behalf of readers.

It offers ten recommendations covering such areas as policy direction, funding, walk-in access in public libraries, licences, subscription pricing and embargo periods and then lists a series of key actions under the headings: overall policy and funding arrangements; publication in open access and hybrid journals; licensing; and repositories.

The report then addresses the costs of the move of UK research publications to OA.  These are uncertain given the number of variables involved.  It is acknowledged that there will need to be a period of transition which may last for a considerable time.  For institutions, moving from the provision of subscription revenue to funding ‘article processing charges’ or publication fees may well be more expensive in the short term.

The report recommends overall “… that the UK should embrace the transition to open access”

The full report (140 pages) is available at:

http://www.researchinfonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Finch-Group-report-FINAL-VERSION.pdf

You may find the executive summary (11 pages), capturing the main points, an easier read: 

http://www.researchinfonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Finch-Group-report-executive-summary-FINAL-VERSION.pdf

“Open to new authors, the Hornemann e-publications database is a free service providing electronic publications in the field of cultural conservation. Users can get a quick overview by full text search of the available abstracts and brief reports, download the full text or contact the authors for exchange of expert information.”

“The majority of the 1400 abstracts are illustrated and are accessible both in German and in English. 56 of the theses are at the moment available for complete download.”

“Users can search in:

• all databases
• Academic theses from Germany and abroad
• Conferences and workshops with programmes, abstracts and full texts
• Articles
• Project papers/documentations
• Posters
• Videos
• Documentations: 1.000 documentations of conservation-restoration activities
• Literature on restoration of furniture, including “grey” literature.”

To see the database in full go to: http://www.hornemann-institut.de/ 

[Source Heritage Portal: http://www.heritageportal.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1393%3Aopen-access-e-publications-at-the-hornemann-institute&catid=129%3Aguidance&Itemid=650&lang=en