“As the open access movement shifts its focus from sharing publications to the “tougher” question of sharing data, universities must shift the focus of their reward systems from publications to other modes of knowledge creation, according to the signatories to a new pact….”
Monthly Archives: January 2020
Open data ‘tougher’ than open access and needs ‘mindset change’ | Times Higher Education (THE)
“As the open access movement shifts its focus from sharing publications to the “tougher” question of sharing data, universities must shift the focus of their reward systems from publications to other modes of knowledge creation, according to the signatories to a new pact….”
UBC to be first Canadian institution to join open science platform – Kelowna Capital News
“UBC is now the first Canadian institution to join the Center for Open Science’s online platform.
In the interest of promoting academic research, UBC Okanagan’s Sharon Hanna, Matthew Vis-Dunbar and Jason Pither announced that the university has become the first Canadian post-secondary institution to join the Center of Open Science’s online platform, Open Science Framework Institutions (OSFI)….”
Tenure Most Foul
“Universities changing their tenure and promotion committee policies to better embrace OA research will lead to a true revolution in academic publishing. Until recently, comprehensive efforts to reform the system have been limited in scope. However, if universities show a commitment to addressing the perception of OA journals and reward researchers publishing in OA journals, then it is not difficult to imagine a future where the vast majority of academic research is published in a manner that is accessible to all, regardless of university affiliation. In turn, publishers would shift more of their journals to OA, to meet the demands of researchers backed by their universities. Additionally, university libraries could curb the cost of subscriptions, given that they are only necessary to access closed access journals. What must happen first is for the tenure and promotion committees of universities to take responsibility for the system that they have fostered.”
AccelNet Proposal: Community of Open Scholarship Grassroots Networks (COSGN)
Abstract: The Community of Open Scholarship Grassroots Networks (COSGN), includes 120 grassroots networks, representing virtually every region of the world and every research discipline. These networks communicate and coordinate on topics of common interest. We propose, using an NSF 19-501 Full-Scale implementation grant, to formalize governance and coordination of the networks to maximize impact and establish standard practices for sustainability. In the project period, we will increase the capacity of COSGN to advance the research and community goals of the participating networks individually and collectively, and establish governance, succession planning, shared resources, and communication pathways to ensure an active, community-sustained network of networks. By the end of the project period, we will have established a self-sustaining network of networks that leverages disciplinary and regional diversity, actively collaborates across networks for grassroots organizing, and shares resources for maximum impact on culture change for open scholarship.
Elsevier mirror journals with the same titles as the originals with an additional “X” – WUR
“Elsevier introduced about 40 mirror journals, also known as X-journals, which enable researchers to publish Open Access and as such meet the requirements of Plan S and other funders. These mirror journals have the same title as the original with an additional X, e.g. Food Chemistry: X. Mirror journals are very similar to the original – with the same editorial board, aims, scope and peer review policies – but differ in business model and have no impact factors yet….”
Job Opportunity: CEO (2020) – Creative Commons
“Creative Commons will welcome its next Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) as it prepares to enter its third decade. With tremendous assets to leverage – CC’s core competencies, credibility and track record, as well as the skills, commitment, and passion of its talented board/advisory board members, staff, global network, and thousands of volunteers – the C.E.O. has a rare opportunity to both shape the organization’s future strategy and operationally lead the team and community….”
TOP (Transparency and Openness Promotion)
“Transparency, open sharing, and reproducibility are core values of science, but not always part of daily practice. Journals, funders, and societies can increase research reproducibility by adopting the TOP Guidelines….”
Journal transparency index will be ‘alternative’ to impact scores | Times Higher Education (THE)
“A new ranking system for academic journals measuring their commitment to research transparency will be launched next month – providing what many believe will be a useful alternative to journal impact scores.
Under a new initiative from the Center for Open Science, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, more than 300 scholarly titles in psychology, education and biomedical science will be assessed on 10 measures related to transparency, with their overall result for each category published in a publicly available league table.
The centre aims to provide scores for about 1,000 journals within six to eight months of their site’s launch in early February….”
Bethel Launches Initiative to Eliminate Textbook Costs | Bethel University
“A new initiative to reduce or eliminate textbook costs has quickly taken off in Bethel’s College of Adult & Professional Studies, improving educational accessibility and affordability for hundreds of students. Initially a collaboration between the Bethel University Library and the Office of Academic Affairs, the Zero Cost Course Resources Initiative aligns with a national trend in higher education to help make courses more affordable.
Funded by a two-year Strategic Growth Award grant from the Bethel University Foundation, the initiative replaces traditional textbooks with Open Educational Resources (OER) and eResources from the Bethel University Library. Faculty and staff launched a pilot run with the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees in summer 2018, and the B.A. in Human Services, B.A. in Psychology, Bethel Distinctives courses, and the graduate-level International Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning have since followed suit. All are set to offer entirely free course resources by spring 2020, saving students approximately $1,300 per year in textbook costs. …”
Publishing & Open Repository Specialist – Employment
“Reporting to the Scholarly Communication Librarian, the Publishing and Open Repository Specialist plays a central role in the UT Libraries’ open access and publishing activities. The specialist is responsible for leading, growing, and improving the publishing partners program. As the individual supporting library-hosted journal publishing services, a service that is growing, this individual is responsible for developing, documenting, and implementing policies, procedures, and publishing guidelines. The specialist develops training materials and provides consultations and workshops on best practices for journal editors. This position is responsible for reviewing partners’ practices to make sure they are meeting library-established publishing guidelines. This position defines and encourages adoption of interoperability standards for partners, such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), and increases the visibility of partner journals by creating metadata for indexing services. This position develops and implements assessment efforts to evaluate the journal publishing service and utilizes this data to improve and grow this service in conjunction with all library scholarly communication activities.
In addition to leading the journal-hosting service, the specialist serves as the liaison to collection managers in the institutional repository, TRACE, supporting faculty and staff who submit materials to it. In this role, the specialist provides communication and outstanding customer service to a diverse group of faculty and staff submitting materials to the repository. The specialist is responsible for staying up-to-date on best practices in scholarly journal publishing and other scholarly communication issues through development and training. This position works with the Scholarly Communication Librarian and other teams in the Libraries on projects involving open access journals, open educational resources, open access books, and other open scholarship initiatives….”
Open Research Library launches, aiming to bring together Open Access content in one platform
“Open Access (OA) content on one seamless and easy-to-use platform: that is the goal of the Open Research Library (ORL), which has officially launched today at www.openresearchlibrary.org.
A number of leading players in the library and OA community have joined forces to support the ORL for the benefit of researchers, scientists and academic institutions worldwide, including Knowledge Unlatched, Biblioboard, EBSCO Discovery ServiceTM, ProQuest with the Ex Libris Primo® and Summon® library discovery services, and OCLC with their creation of MARC records and indexing in WorldCat and WorldCat Discovery.
A powerful hosting platform that makes scientific book publications, and other high-quality academic OA content, freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world, ORL provides free access to a comprehensive collection of thousands of scholarly monographs, anthologies, journals, videos, posters and other formats. It caters to the core principle of OA—unobstructed access to academic materials with full interoperability of content data and metadata….”
Open Research Library launches, aiming to bring together Open Access content in one platform
“Open Access (OA) content on one seamless and easy-to-use platform: that is the goal of the Open Research Library (ORL), which has officially launched today at www.openresearchlibrary.org.
A number of leading players in the library and OA community have joined forces to support the ORL for the benefit of researchers, scientists and academic institutions worldwide, including Knowledge Unlatched, Biblioboard, EBSCO Discovery ServiceTM, ProQuest with the Ex Libris Primo® and Summon® library discovery services, and OCLC with their creation of MARC records and indexing in WorldCat and WorldCat Discovery.
A powerful hosting platform that makes scientific book publications, and other high-quality academic OA content, freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world, ORL provides free access to a comprehensive collection of thousands of scholarly monographs, anthologies, journals, videos, posters and other formats. It caters to the core principle of OA—unobstructed access to academic materials with full interoperability of content data and metadata….”
Nobelists urge Trump to require free access to taxpayer-funded publications | Berkeley News
“Led by UC Berkeley’s Randy Schekman, 21 Nobel laureates from the United States have sent an open letter to President Donald Trump urging him to follow through on a rumored plan to make all federally funded research studies free for the public to read immediately upon publication.
Currently, most journals require a subscription to read their published articles, or make them publicly accessible after a certain period of time. In 2013, President Barack Obama required that all research funded by the U.S. government be made freely available online within 12 months of publication, specifically the peer-reviewed and accepted versions that authors receive prior to journal publication.
The rumor of a presidential executive order lifting this 12-month embargo and requiring immediate publication of author-accepted manuscripts originated in December, though it’s unclear who started the rumor. Several for-profit scientific publishing houses quickly expressed strong opposition, warning of dire consequences for U.S. discovery and innovation….”
CC Launches the Global Search for Its Next Chief Executive Officer
I’m delighted to announce, on behalf of the Creative Commons (CC) Board of Directors, the formal launch of the global search for the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CC.
The timing could not be more exciting for CC. We will welcome our next CEO as we prepare to enter our third decade as the global standard for sharing works of knowledge and creativity.
Our new CEO will both shape the organization’s future strategy and operationally lead the team and community by leveraging CC’s tremendous assets. These assets include CC’s core competencies, credibility, and track record; as well as the skills, commitment, and passion of its talented board of directors, advisory council, staff, global network, and volunteers.
This is an outstanding opportunity for a creative strategist and manager to champion the work of a leading voice in the open movement as it evolves its role within its community and the world.
The full job description can be accessed here.
Questions or confidential nominations can be shared with our search partners at Viewcrest Advisors: creativecommons@viewcrestadvisors.com
Thank you for sharing this post broadly!
Molly Van Houweling | Creative Commons Board Chair
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