The future of scholarly publishing – 2023 – Journal of Food Science – Wiley Online Library

“Take-up of Open Access (OA) publication in the Journal of Food Science (JFS) has increased substantially in the past year, and we continue to monitor this. In JFS, we published about 10% of our manuscripts as OA last year, but it’s significantly higher in Comprehensive Reviews (CRFSFS). We’ve heard of publishers pushing society journals to switch to Gold OA (fully-OA publications), but our near-term future will still be hybrid publishing with authors deciding if they want to pay for OA.

Another concern in the move to OA is the risk that underfunded researchers will not be able to pay the OA fees. We participate in Research4Life, so authors in low-income nations can get waivers, but will APC be an obstacle for researchers from middle-income nations not on the Research4Life list?…”

Is open science a double-edged sword?: data sharing and the changing citation pattern of Chinese economics articles | SpringerLink

Abstract:  Data sharing is an important part of open science (OS), and more and more institutions and journals have been enforcing open data (OD) policies. OD is advocated to help increase academic influences and promote scientific discovery and development, but such a proposition has not been elaborated on well. This study explores the nuanced effects of the OD policies on the citation pattern of articles by using the case of Chinese economics journals. China Industrial Economics (CIE) is the first and only Chinese social science journal so far to adopt a compulsory OD policy, requiring all published articles to share original data and processing codes. We use the article-level data and difference-in-differences (DID) approach to compare the citation performance of articles published in CIE and 36 comparable journals. Firstly, we find that the OD policy quickly increased the number of citations, and each article on average received 0.25, 1.19, 0.86, and 0.44 more citations in the first four years after publication respectively. Furthermore, we also found that the citation benefit of the OD policy rapidly decreased over time, and even became negative in the fifth year after publication. In conclusion, this changing citation pattern suggests that an OD policy can be double edged sword, which can quickly increase citation performance but simultaneously accelerate the aging of articles.

 

A new approach to peer review or scholarly publishing – 2023 – Journal of Food Science – Wiley Online Library

“In last month’s column, I spoke about preprint sites as a possible future direction of note for our journals. At the end of that editorial, I said I would talk about eLife since this journal is doing several things quite different, some of which may be of interest to JFS….

eLife editors argue that the “new model combines the immediacy and openness of preprints with the scrutiny of peer review by experts.” Will this approach to scholarly publication take root? There are certainly some interesting concepts for us to consider….”

Editors’ note: On rent extraction in academic publishing and its alternatives | Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society

Abstract:  In this editorial we introduce new members of our editorial team and the contents of this issue. In addition we discuss open access developments of the journal, namely our new license policy, which allows authors to choose a Creative Common license that best suits their needs or the requirements of their funders. This change in licenses makes our journal also compliant with the Plan S programme, which several large European research funders have signed, in order to promote open access publishing. We support such initiatives, but note that they are designed mainly to push large commercial publishers to publish publicly funded research in open access. While the Plan S is a welcome program, commercial for-profit publishers charge exorbitant charges for open access, usually paid for by the researchers’ institutions. We note that these charges are a form of rent extraction, which produces little added value, as the commercial publishers rely on the free labor of researchers and publicly funded research to fill their journals’ pages. More so, due to these charges the public ends up paying again for the research it funded in the first place. We argue that public support for both institutional and independent non-profit open access publishing is a socially more just and sustainable model.

Cephalalgia – The early history – Stefan Evers, 2023

Abstract:  The journal Cephalalgia was founded in 1980 and was first published in 1981. The foundation was mainly laid by Ottar Sjaastad who also served as the first Editor-in-Chief. In the early years, Cephalalgia was published in Scandinavia and was owned by the Norwegian Migraine Society. It became the official journal of the International Headache Society in 1984 and in 1993 ownership of Cephalalgia was transferred to International Headache Society. The publisher changed in 2000 and then again in 2009. The success of Cephalalgia can be seen by the almost continuous rising of its impact factor and by the increasing number of issues including supplements and special issues. In the future, Cephalagia will become more digital and open access.

 

A technology?based, financially sustainable, quality improvement intervention in a medical journal for bilingualism from submission to publication – Bachelet – 2023 – Learned Publishing – Wiley Online Library

“Key points

 

While English is the dominant language in scientific literature, there are many reasons for introducing bilingualism in academic journals.
Bilingualism has generally been avoided due to the perception of high costs and possible inconsistencies between the source language article and the translated version.
A medical journal based in Santiago, Chile, carried out a two-year-long quality improvement intervention to overhaul the peer review, copyediting, translating and publication technologies to ensure full bilingualism from submission to online publication.
The outcomes are full bilingualism for articles submitted in Spanish and simultaneous publication of both language versions while not compromising the financial sustainability of the journal.”

Thieme E-Journals – Methods of Information in Medicine / Abstract

Abstract:  Background?During the last decades, the Open Access paradigm has become an important approach for publishing new scientific knowledge. From 2015 to 2020, the Trans-O-MIM research project was undertaken with the intention to identify and to explore solutions in transforming subscription-based journals into Open Access journals. Trans-O-MIM stands for strategies, models, and evaluation metrics for the goal-oriented, stepwise, sustainable, and fair transformation of established subscription-based scientific journals into Open-Access-based journals with Methods of Information in Medicine as an example. Objectives?To present an overview of the outcomes of the Trans-O-MIM research project as a whole and to share our major lessons learned. Methods?As an approach for transforming journals, a Tandem Model has been proposed and implemented for Methods of Information in Medicine. For developing a metric to observe and assess journal transformations, scenario analysis has been used. A qualitative and a two-tier quantitative study on drivers and obstacles of Open Access publishing for medical informatics researchers was designed and conducted. A project setup with a research team, a steering committee, and an international advisory board was established. Major international medical informatics events have been used for reporting and for receiving feedback. Results?Based on the Tandem Model, the journal Methods of Information in Medicine has been transformed into a journal where, in addition to its subscription-based track, from 2017 onwards a Gold Open Access track has been successfully added. An evaluation metric, composed of 5 scenarios and 65 parameters, has been developed, which can assist respective decision makers in assessing such transformations. The studies on drivers and obstacles of Open Access publishing showed that, while most researchers support the idea of making scientific knowledge freely accessible to everyone, they are hesitant about actually living this practice by choosing Open Access journals to publish their own work. Article-processing charges and quality issues are perceived as the main obstacles in this respect, revealing a two-sided evaluation of Open Access models, reflecting the different viewpoints of researchers as authors or readers. Especially researchers from low-income countries benefit from a barrier-free communication mainly in their role as readers and much less in their role as authors of scientific information. This became also evident at the institutional level, as Open Access policies or financial support through funding bodies are most prevalent in Europe and North America. Conclusions?With Trans-O-MIM, an international research project was performed. An existing journal has been transformed. In addition, with the support of the International Medical Informatics Association, as well as of the European Federation for Medical Informatics and of the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology as European and German medical informatics organizations, we did run an international experiment on Open Access incentives. Both together are, as far as the authors know, unique. We therefore expect that this research could add new knowledge on Open Access transformation.

What’s in a Badge? A Computational Reproducibility Investigation of the Open Data Badge Policy in One Issue of Psychological Science – Sophia Crüwell, Deborah Apthorp, Bradley J. Baker, Lincoln Colling, Malte Elson, Sandra J. Geiger, Sebastian Lobentanzer, Jean Monéger, Alex Patterson, D. Samuel Schwarzkopf, Mirela Zaneva, Nicholas J. L. Brown, 2023

Abstract:  In April 2019, Psychological Science published its first issue in which all Research Articles received the Open Data badge. We used that issue to investigate the effectiveness of this badge, focusing on the adherence to its aim at Psychological Science: sharing both data and code to ensure reproducibility of results. Twelve researchers of varying experience levels attempted to reproduce the results of the empirical articles in the target issue (at least three researchers per article). We found that all 14 articles provided at least some data and six provided analysis code, but only one article was rated to be exactly reproducible, and three were rated as essentially reproducible with minor deviations. We suggest that researchers should be encouraged to adhere to the higher standard in force at Psychological Science. Moreover, a check of reproducibility during peer review may be preferable to the disclosure method of awarding badges.

 

What’s in a Badge? A Computational Reproducibility Investigation of the Open Data Badge Policy in One Issue of Psychological Science – Sophia Crüwell, Deborah Apthorp, Bradley J. Baker, Lincoln Colling, Malte Elson, Sandra J. Geiger, Sebastian Lobentanzer, Jean Monéger, Alex Patterson, D. Samuel Schwarzkopf, Mirela Zaneva, Nicholas J. L. Brown, 2023

Abstract:  In April 2019, Psychological Science published its first issue in which all Research Articles received the Open Data badge. We used that issue to investigate the effectiveness of this badge, focusing on the adherence to its aim at Psychological Science: sharing both data and code to ensure reproducibility of results. Twelve researchers of varying experience levels attempted to reproduce the results of the empirical articles in the target issue (at least three researchers per article). We found that all 14 articles provided at least some data and six provided analysis code, but only one article was rated to be exactly reproducible, and three were rated as essentially reproducible with minor deviations. We suggest that researchers should be encouraged to adhere to the higher standard in force at Psychological Science. Moreover, a check of reproducibility during peer review may be preferable to the disclosure method of awarding badges.

 

Preprints em CSP

From Google’s English:  “CSP [Cad Saúde Pública] is a journal that guarantees public and free access to its entire collection for the reading public, an essential part of the principles of Open Science. In addition, CSP recognizes the importance of preprints in today’s scientific publishing scenario and, since 2020, accepts articles previously deposited in non-commercial preprint repositories (eg: arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, Zenodo and SciELO Preprints), before submission to the journal or during the peer review process.

 

In these two situations, it is necessary for the author to notify the journal’s editorial team and inform the name of the preprints server and the DOI assigned to the article.two?? However, the practice of publishing preprints of an article already approved in CSP on a server is not recommended. In this case, the participation of the scientific community debating with the author will not contribute to the improvement of the article and the duplicate DOI can harm the authors and the journal….

It is emphasized that the deposit of the article in the preprints server is a decision of the author. It is worth noting, however, the implications for the double-blind peer review system adopted by CSP, since it makes it possible to identify authorship.”

EDI and open access: How JACMP is the future of ethical publishing—A tale in two parts – Hedrick – Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics – Wiley Online Library

“The Wiley and the JACMP are committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusivity within the journal and the entire publishing process. Some current efforts include the signing of the Joint Commitment for Action on Inclusion and Diversity in Publishing, utilizing double blind review, and providing open access to all JACMP articles. Future endeavors, aligning with the Joint Commitment, will likely include collecting diversity data from authors and reviewers, pushing the JACMP to the forefront of ethical publishing. We cannot do our best work  without including the best minds. As Mother Teresa said, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” ”

Tectonic shifts in academic publishing – McGill Reporter

“McGill Library’s support for a new seismology journal is just one example of how the Library is helping researchers challenge the status quo in academic publishing…

Seismica, which charges neither subscription fees for readers, nor publication fees for authors, is a landmark in Rowe’s move away from the world of for-profit academic publishing. After more than 10 years serving on the editorial boards of several journals in her field, she says she decided to cut ties with big publishers. A watershed moment came in 2020 when the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced an author fee of €10,000 for each paper published in one of its ‘open access’ journals. At a time when government funding agencies are increasingly requiring researchers to publish their work in open access journals as a condition of their grants, moves like this are seen by some as a strategy on the part of commercial publishers to shore up their revenue base by shifting fees from subscribers to authors.

According to Rowe, however, researchers themselves are partly to blame for feeding a cycle of high fees and perceived status in academic publishing. “The only reason authors would pay [these fees] is for the prestige – and potential career benefits – of publishing in Nature,” she says. “In other words, we academics have created an expensive spiral of prestige and power – which we ourselves enforce on one another – which drives the flow of grant money toward these publishing companies.” …”

Tectonic shifts in academic publishing – McGill Reporter

“Seismica, which charges neither subscription fees for readers, nor publication fees for authors, is a landmark in Rowe’s move away from the world of for-profit academic publishing. After more than 10 years serving on the editorial boards of several journals in her field, she says she decided to cut ties with big publishers. A watershed moment came in 2020 when the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced an author fee of €10,000 for each paper published in one of its ‘open access’ journals. At a time when government funding agencies are increasingly requiring researchers to publish their work in open access journals as a condition of their grants, moves like this are seen by some as a strategy on the part of commercial publishers to shore up their revenue base by shifting fees from subscribers to authors.

According to Rowe, however, researchers themselves are partly to blame for feeding a cycle of high fees and perceived status in academic publishing. “The only reason authors would pay [these fees] is for the prestige – and potential career benefits – of publishing in Nature,” she says. “In other words, we academics have created an expensive spiral of prestige and power – which we ourselves enforce on one another – which drives the flow of grant money toward these publishing companies.” …

It was NPG’s “obscene increase” in author fees, says Rowe, that helped spur a loose consortium of researchers to start a journal of their own. With advice from the editors of Volcanica, a similar journal that had launched a year earlier, Rowe and seven of her colleagues spent the best part of 2021 laying the groundwork for Seismica, which opened for submissions in July 2022. …”

The Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine goes full open access in 2023 – IOS Press

“All accepted manuscripts submitted after 2022 will be published open access. Open access fees will be processed only after a manuscript is accepted. Many institutions have mechanisms to cover open access fees, as do those with grant-funded research. In some circumstances, the open access fee can be waived, for example, if the author’s institution participates in a national open access agreement, or meets the eligibility criteria of Research4Life. Please refer to the author guidelines for more detailed information.

Open access has historically not decreased submissions. In fact, many journals find that submissions increase as authors benefit from the increased exposure that open access provides [1]. More individuals are able to see their published work as many do not have access to specialized subscriptions. Additionally, full-text indexing in PubMed Central will further improve JPRM’s accessibility and prominence.

Our journal is global, and we arrived at this decision after taking in the landscape of the scholarly published world. Many European researchers will already be familiar with momentum shifts toward full open access mandates by institutions and funding bodies. Shortly after the open access agreement between IOS Press and JPRM was reached, the United States announced an initiative to improve access for federally funded research [2]. Research supported by the NIH and other governmental funders will need to be free to access immediately upon publication without any time period behind a paywall, which previously could be as long as a year. While this change will not affect all US researchers, its impact may be the first of many steps toward shifting US scholarly publishing closer to a fully open access future….”

The origins of Education Policy Analysis Archives in an era of early open access publishing | Education Policy Analysis Archives

Abstract:  In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the open access scholarly journal, Education Policy Analysis Archives, Founder and Editor Emeritus Gene V Glass presents a brief history of the journal, including its online predecessors and offshoots, within the context of computer and information technology developments and the early open access movement in scholarly publishing.