Another useful resource that brings together information about open access, repositories and related topics is the EnablingOpenScholarship website. Members of the EOS organisation aim to develop strategies for promoting open scholarship, and the website provides guidance on issues such as developing open access policies, addressing author concerns and the business aspects of institutional repositories.
Worth reading: the useful summary of open access and related briefing papers.
Thursday 24 February 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Citation advantage of Open Access
One of the benefits of Open Access (OA) is the increased audience and potential for greater citation, and many studies have been done to examine this 'citation advantage' (where OA articles receive more citations than equivalent subscription articles). A recent publication by Ben Wagner reviews the literature and weighs the evidence, finding the majority of studies show a significant OA citation advantage. Open Access citation advantage: an annotated bibliography provides a useful summary of the way studies were carried out including scope, subject area and main conclusions. The typical advantage is 25%-250%.
A small number of studies found no advantage, though most of these focus on specific subject areas. No studies were found to show any citation disadvantage for OA.
A small number of studies found no advantage, though most of these focus on specific subject areas. No studies were found to show any citation disadvantage for OA.
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Open Access hot topic at Research Management event
Closing discussions were focussed on Open Access and compliance with research funder mandates at a recent event organised by the Centre for Research Communications.
Research Management: Smoothing the Way brought together library, IT and research managers to look at integrating research management in institutions and best practice in research support. The work at St Andrews to implement Pure and provide a joined-up service was presented as one of the case studies. We emphasized the close working relationships and sharing of knowledge that characterises our approach. Presenters from Glasgow and Newscastle provided useful insight into development of systems including features to support research assessment.
Representatives from Wellcome and NERC provided the funders' perspective, and both speakers highlighted the need for good acknowledgement practice. When data on funder names and grant IDs is properly exposed and linked, systems can make 'magic happen' by linking projects and resulting publications. The Grant Lookup feature in UK PubMed Central is an example of how this can work.
We also heard from Stephen Pinfield on funding streams for open access; reminding us that publishing models are in transition. Institutions will need to provide solid support to help researchers build open access publishing costs into their normal practice, from grant application to possible extended 'writing up' periods. Background and further discussion is in the article 'Paying for open access? Institutional funding streams and OA publication charges'
A roundup of the day with representative of CRC, ARMA, RLUK and SCONUL noted the need for shared systems and services where possible as we prepare for REF, while acknowledging the competitive nature of research assessment. Continued advocacy for compliance with funder mandates is needed from both institutions and the funders themselves, with better support for claiming open access costs. Open Access is undoubtably seen as a driving force for enhancing scholarly communication, and final thoughts turned to what can be done to continue bringing OA into mainstream practice.
Research Management: Smoothing the Way brought together library, IT and research managers to look at integrating research management in institutions and best practice in research support. The work at St Andrews to implement Pure and provide a joined-up service was presented as one of the case studies. We emphasized the close working relationships and sharing of knowledge that characterises our approach. Presenters from Glasgow and Newscastle provided useful insight into development of systems including features to support research assessment.
Representatives from Wellcome and NERC provided the funders' perspective, and both speakers highlighted the need for good acknowledgement practice. When data on funder names and grant IDs is properly exposed and linked, systems can make 'magic happen' by linking projects and resulting publications. The Grant Lookup feature in UK PubMed Central is an example of how this can work.
We also heard from Stephen Pinfield on funding streams for open access; reminding us that publishing models are in transition. Institutions will need to provide solid support to help researchers build open access publishing costs into their normal practice, from grant application to possible extended 'writing up' periods. Background and further discussion is in the article 'Paying for open access? Institutional funding streams and OA publication charges'
A roundup of the day with representative of CRC, ARMA, RLUK and SCONUL noted the need for shared systems and services where possible as we prepare for REF, while acknowledging the competitive nature of research assessment. Continued advocacy for compliance with funder mandates is needed from both institutions and the funders themselves, with better support for claiming open access costs. Open Access is undoubtably seen as a driving force for enhancing scholarly communication, and final thoughts turned to what can be done to continue bringing OA into mainstream practice.
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