How to enable smaller independent publishers to participate in OA agreements

Abstract:  This work was carried out by Information Power on behalf of cOAlition S and ALPSP. The objective of this project was to measure progress on Open Access (OA) agreements since the SPA-OPS project ended in early 2020. The focus was on OA agreements between consortia/libraries and smaller independent publishers who face challenges in trying to negotiate and implement transformative OA agreements.

How to enable smaller independent publishers to participate in OA agreements

Abstract:  This work was carried out by Information Power on behalf of cOAlition S and ALPSP. The objective of this project was to measure progress on Open Access (OA) agreements since the SPA-OPS project ended in early 2020. The focus was on OA agreements between consortia/libraries and smaller independent publishers who face challenges in trying to negotiate and implement transformative OA agreements.

Member Webinar – Transformative Agreements: Where are we now?

“Transformative (also referred to as transitional agreements) are becoming increasingly important in the OA landscape, particularly as UKRI is due to announce the outcome of its consultation on open access in the second quarter of 2021 .

What is involved in negotiating a transformative agreement?  
What does a library look for in a transformative agreement? 
How should you manage the agreement once it is in place?…”

Virtual Training – Strategy and Pricing for Open Access Journals

“Are you involved in developing or executing OA publishing strategy? Do you have responsibility for implementing an OA programme? Do you need to inform your strategic planning of OA with a practical perspective?

This course will equip participants with the tools and insights to inform their OA strategic thinking and decision making. It will take people through the complexities and challenges of OA, highlighting the ways in which OA publishing is deeply different to subscription publishing (and some ways that it is the same!).

The course, aimed at senior managers, is an intensive half-day looking at the strategic aspects of overseeing and developing OA journals. There will be group discussion, case studies and scenarios to prepare delegates for meeting the challenges of planning and running OA journals. We will explore the issues encountered in setting strategy, budgets and pricing; the policy and competitive landscape; and sales and marketing….”

Review of OA agreements post SPA OPS Survey

“Thank you very much for agreeing to complete this short survey. We have been commissioned by the European Science Foundation, on behalf of cOAlition S, and ALPSP to review the progress of open access agreements around the world.

 

Transformative OA agreements are made between libraries and publishers and include both OA publishing services and reading services (if any content is paywalled). They remove the need for authors to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs) or other transactional charges for their open access publishing. Many types of transformative OA agreement initiatives operate today, including Read & Publish, Subscribe to Open, Community Action Publishing, and journal flipping programs via Knowledge Unlatched, Libraria, or SCOAP3.”

NISO Voting Members Approve Work to Update Journal Article Versions (JAV)

“The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announced today that their Voting Members have approved a new work item to update the 2008 Recommended Practice, NISO RP-8-2008, Journal Article Versions (JAV): Recommendations of the NISO/ALPSP JAV Technical Working Group. A NISO Working Group is being set up, and work is expected to begin in early 2021. 

Publication practices have changed rapidly since the publication of the original recommendations. For example, preprints have become much more important as a publication type in many disciplines, and publishers are increasingly experimenting with new ways to publish, update, and keep research alive. All of these versions of an article are important and citable, making the concept of a single ‘version of record’ less relevant. These additional processes to support public availability make the consistent assignment of DOIs to one or more versions challenging. 

The NISO JAV working group will define a set of terms for each of the different versions of content that are published, as well as a recommendation for whether separate DOIs should be assigned to them. They will address questions such as: Should there be a single DOI for an article, regardless of version? Different DOIs for each version? How are the identifiers connected and used? How do we define a version? As with all NISO output, the group’s draft recommendations will be shared for public comment before publication….”

Standards Committee Votes – 11/8/2020 – Association for Information Science and Technology | ASIS&T

“1) Voted YES on Approval of Proposed New Work Item: Update NISO RP-8-2008, Journal Article Versions (JAV)

 

Question:

Do you approve of a Proposed New Work Item: Update NISO RP-8-2008, Journal Article Versions (JAV)?

Description:

This ballot is to approve a proposed new work item to Update NISO RP-8-2008, Journal Article Versions (JAV) [https://www.niso.org/publications/niso-rp-8-2008-jav] to take into account publication practices that have been adopted over the past 12 years, especially the increasing circulation of preprints and the application of DOIs across the landscape….”

ALPSP Awards for Innovation in Publishing 2020: Shortlist announced!

“The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, is delighted to announce the shortlist for the ALPSP Awards for Innovation in Publishing 2020, sponsored by Publishers’ Licensing Services.

Applications for the awards were open to any new development, product, service or project which is both innovative and of significant value to scholarly communication. The winners must demonstrate excellence in terms of originality, innovation, value to the community, utility and long-term viability.

The ALPSP Awards finalists for 2020 are: 

Charlesworth WeChat Gateway
DataSeer
Jus Mundi
Open Library of Humanities
Rigor and Transparency Index powered by SciScore
Scholarcy
Select Crowd Review
WordToEPUB…”

Growing Successful Open Access Journals – Virtual classroom – 8 & 9 Sept

“Are you running a journal or journal programme to deliver on your Open Access publishing strategy? Do you have responsibility for implementing an OA programme? Do you need to inform your approach to OA with a practical perspective?

This course will equip participants with the tools to make a success of an Open Access journal or journal programme. We will do this by taking people through the complexities and challenges of Open Access, highlighting the ways in which OA publishing is deeply different to subscription publishing (and some ways that it is the same!).

The course will be a practical, hands-on exploration of launching, converting, running and developing Open Access journals. Delegates will participate in group discussion, will work through case studies and scenarios to develop high level strategies. We will cover the economics of Open Access publishing – considering costs, pricing and revenue and encouraging delegates to conceive of each rigorously in an era of greater scrutiny. Through the lens of a typical day for running an OA journal or journal programme we will explore the issues encountered including finances, ethics, operations, sales and marketing….”

Growing Successful Open Access Journals – Virtual classroom – 8 & 9 Sept

“Are you running a journal or journal programme to deliver on your Open Access publishing strategy? Do you have responsibility for implementing an OA programme? Do you need to inform your approach to OA with a practical perspective?

This course will equip participants with the tools to make a success of an Open Access journal or journal programme. We will do this by taking people through the complexities and challenges of Open Access, highlighting the ways in which OA publishing is deeply different to subscription publishing (and some ways that it is the same!).

The course will be a practical, hands-on exploration of launching, converting, running and developing Open Access journals. Delegates will participate in group discussion, will work through case studies and scenarios to develop high level strategies. We will cover the economics of Open Access publishing – considering costs, pricing and revenue and encouraging delegates to conceive of each rigorously in an era of greater scrutiny. Through the lens of a typical day for running an OA journal or journal programme we will explore the issues encountered including finances, ethics, operations, sales and marketing….”

Society Publishers Accelerating Open access and Plan S (SPA-OPS) project

“This collection contains the key outputs from the Society Publishers Accelerating Open access and Plan S (SPA-OPS) project. This project set out to identify routes through which learned society publishers could successfully transition to open access (OA) and align with Plan S.

This project was led by Alicia Wise and Lorraine Estelle of Information Power, and was commissioned by Wellcome, UK Research and Innovation, and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)….”

New ALPSP boss: academic publishing ‘could return to non-profit’ | Research Information

“Academic publishing could be about to return to a not-for-profit enterprise.

That is the view of Wayne Sime, new chief executive of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), who was interviewed in Research Information this month.

Sime was previously director of library services for the Royal Society of Medicine, and has also worked in the NHS and financial sector. He has been a chartered librarian since 2001 and became a fellow of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) in 2009.

When asked what he believes will change in the industry over the next 10 years, Sime predicted an expectation that all scholarly communications will be freely distributed, and that search engines and social communities will be primary sources of useful information.

He continued: ‘We will need to adjust our practice and business model to reflect this new reality. The best way, I believe, to see the future is to expect a rapid drop in all kinds of government backing from the economy and to figure out a publication system that will adapt. 

‘We must remember that when we look back at the history of publishing, it has only been a recent development (mid-20th century onwards) that academic publishing become a profit-making enterprise. History may be about to repeat itself!’ …”

Plan S advice for learned societies | Research Information

“Wellcome, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), have engaged Information Power to explore a range of potential strategies and business models through which learned societies can transition to an open access landscape and adapt to Plan S. 

As the number of researchers covered by Plan S-compliant funding increases it will, in time, put pressure on the business models of many learned societies, which rely on hybrid journal publishing to cover their publishing costs, and to generate revenue for other important activities they undertake such as hosting meetings/conferences and awarding fellowships and other grants. 

Robert Kiley, head of open research at Wellcome said: ‘Wellcome and UKRI recognise the value learned societies play in supporting researchers and contributing to a vibrant research ecosystem. We are keen for them to be successful in transition to OA in line with Plan S.  We are delighted to partner with ALPSP to explore – via the team at Information Power – a diverse array of potential strategies and business models through which learned societies can adapt and thrive to this changing landscape.’

The team – including Alicia Wise, Lorraine Estelle, and Hazel Woodward at Information Power, plus additional expert Yvonne Campfens – will document and develop a range of transition approaches and business models for Learned Society publishers to consider.  These will be developed in dialogue with society publishers, libraries and consortia, funders, society members, and society publishing partners. …”