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.
A Rare Shared Cultural Experience and the Value of Inconvenience
When was the last time everyone you knew experienced the same piece of culture at the same time? Is the age of shared cultural experiences over?
The Need to Simplify Indexing and Data Sharing
Indexing and metadata sharing are the lifeblood of scholarly journals. Even with services and infrastructure available to all journals, the effort needed to participate is not small. Journals that are self-published and on their own platforms need significant resources to implement metadata sharing and depositing. This guest post serves as a case study and provides suggestions for how to make it easier.
Why are Librarians Concerned about GetFTR?
Some were surprised GetFTR wasn’t immediately welcomed by the library community. @lisalibrarian analyzes why.
Room For One More? (Conference, That Is)
The last five years have seen a new wave of scholarly communications meetings and events. Read this roundup of some key ones and why they’re proving successful – by Alice Meadows.
TL;DR (That is, Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Do I really have to read all of that essay or monograph? Can’t artificial intelligence do the heavy lifting for me?
Are You Ready to ROR? An Inside Look at this New Organization Identifier Registry
What is the Research Organization Registry (ROR) and why do we need it? Learn more from the team behind it (CDL, Crossref, DataCite, and Digital Science) in this interview with Alice Meadows.
Publishers Announce a Major New Service to Plug Leakage
Today, a group of leading publishers is announcing a major new service to plug leakage, improve discovery and access, fight piracy, compete with ResearchGate, and position their platform for the OA ecosystem. This new service shows that publishers are finally beginning to address digital strategy in an environment that has steadily eroded their ability to monetize the value they create. Does it go far enough to reset the competitive environment?
On Being Accepted: The Views of Four People with Disabilities Working in Scholarly Communications
What’s it like to be work in scholarly communications as a person with a disability – physical or mental? See our world through the eyes of four individuals with disabilities in this interview by Alice Meadows
China Strives to Catch Up on STM Publishing: An Interview with Dr. Zong-Ming Cheng and Dr. Xiaofeng Wang
China is making great official strides in developing a system of scholarly communications. Tao Tao interviews two experts for their opinions on how international collaborations and internal developments are happening.
Is PLOS Running Out Of Time? Financial Statements Suggest Urgency To Innovate
The publisher is committed to financial sustainability. How it achieves it is an open question.
Historians Respond to Plan S: Open Access vs OA Policies Redux
For years humanists have been pointing to the real advantages of openness and accessibility, and the real costs of rigid, monolithic open access policies. The Royal Historical Society studied the landscape for Plan S compliance and the implications for UK historians.
Digital Bangladesh: How Research Data Defines Development
Bangladesh continues to make progress toward its vision of growth with a digital agenda, but good data and collaboration with researchers is important to ensure that the process is effective.
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.
Researchers’ Social License – in Need of Renewal?
Social license, in the context of research, is a form of public ‘approval’ that ensures research is funded, that its results are respected, and that participation is willingly engaged in, where needed. For many reasons, it seems as if researchers’ current social license is in danger of being revoked. Charlie Rapple explores what might be required to ensure it is renewed.