Measuring the Success of Transformative Agreements
I asked twelve publisher/customer pairs how they will measure the success of their transformative deals five years from now. The responses were very interesting.
Will the Future of Scholarly Communication Be Pluralistic and Democratic, or Monocultural and Authoritarian?
One way or another, the #scholcomm community is going to choose either a diversity of publishing models or a monoculture, because it can’t have both. How will this choice be made, and by whom?
Reforming Research Assessment: A Tough Nut to Crack
Alison Mudditt looks at the recently released TOP Factor from the Center for Open Science, and the bigger picture of shifting the nature of research assessment.
ACM’s New Open Access Agreements: A Q&A with Scott Delman
A conversation with Scott Delman of ACM about the publisher’s recently-announced deal with four major US research universities.
Scholarly Societies: The Importance of Community
In this article Robert Harington describes how scholarly societies are an indelible part of the research and support system for academics across many disciplines. Robert suggests rather than requiring societies to seek alternative revenue streams beyond publishing, why not turn that argument on its head and more fully support society and academic community life?
Guest Post — Mexican Publishers Face Significant Challenges, but They’re Uniquely Equipped to Meet Them
A guest post from Rachel Maund, Director of Marketability, provides an update about publishing, open access and book trade events in Mexico and Latin America.
Politics and Open Access
Robert Harington explores rumors circulating in recent weeks of an impending US Executive Order focusing on public access to federally funded research and open data.
The Tyranny of Unintended Consequences: Richard Poynder on Open Access and the Open Access Movement
A recent opinion paper by Richard Poynder @rickypo offers analysis and prognostication with regard to the current state and future prospects of #openaccess and the open access movement.
Can Geowalling Save Open Access?
Geowalling open content is proposed yet again. As a thought experiment, @lisalibrarian explores what Plan S principles would be compromised by this tactic.
Leveraging a Transformative Agreement to Incentivize Funder Spend
Can a library/publisher transformative agreement attract funder spend?
@lisalibrarian unpacks the SAGE/UNC-Chapel Hill pilot program.
Why Scholarly Societies Are Vitally Important to the Academic Ecosystem
Robert Harington suggests that despite the critical role of scholarly societies in publishing and academia, the sad reality is it is the big corporate publishers who win.
Two New Initiatives at eLife To Start the Eisen Era
Michael Eisen’s bold visions for eLife emerge on Twitter. We consider two of his proposed initiatives.
Quality Criteria in Scholarship and Science: Proposing a Visualization of Their Interactions
Proposing a model for thinking about the interactions of rigor, cogency, accessibility, significance, openness, and impact in scholarly quality.
Open Access Monographs: Building Better Infrastructure
Experimentation is key in supporting open access monographs. We’ve done the research and now it’s time to build a better user experience.
Knowledge Futures Group: An interview with Amy Brand, Director of the MIT Press
Robert Harington talks to Amy Brand, Director of MIT Press, to discover more about the recent launch of the Knowledge Futures Group.