'Location-specific' Blocks on Journal Access Could Be OA 'interim Solution'
'Geo-specific access models' will help overcome problem of different nations having different policies towards open access, European Commission expert argues.
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Leaked Document on Elsevier Negotiations Sparks Controversy - ScienceGuide
Leaked Document on Elsevier Negotiations Sparks Controversy - ScienceGuide
In exchange for full open access Elsevier requests full cooperation in a number of (meta)data projects. Initial responses to the proposed deal show a fear of 'vendor lock-in'.
Open Access to Teaching Material - How Far Have We Come?
One of the foundational aims of the open access movement, set out in the Budapest Open Access Initiative, was to provide access to research not only to scholars, but to “teachers, students and other curious minds” and in so doing “enrich education”. However almost two decades on from the declaration access to the research literature for educational purposes remains limited.
Ten Key Prerequisites to Securely Fund Open Infrastructure Today and Tomorrow - SPARC Europe
Ten Key Prerequisites to Securely Fund Open Infrastructure Today and Tomorrow - SPARC Europe
Everything we have gained by opening content and data will be under threat if we allow the enclosure of scholarly infrastructures. We propose a set of principles by which Open Infrastructures to support the research community could be run and sustained.
Worldwide Inequality in Access to Full Text Scientific Articles: the Example of Ophthalmology
Worldwide Inequality in Access to Full Text Scientific Articles: the Example of Ophthalmology
The problem of access to medical information, particularly in low-income countries, has been under discussion for many years. Paywalls still limit access to approximately 75% of scholarly documents. This study compares the accessibility of recent full text articles in the field of ophthalmology in 27 established institutions located worldwide.
How Journals Are Using Overlay Publishing Models to Facilitate Equitable OA
How Journals Are Using Overlay Publishing Models to Facilitate Equitable OA
In the overlay publishing model, a journal performs refereeing services, but it doesn’t publish articles on its website. Rather, the journal’s website links to final article versions hosted on an online repository. Some editors share why they chose to publish their journals via the arXiv overlay model and how they believe overlay journals will contribute to greater equity in OA.
"Flipping" to (more) Open when You're Already Open
With most of the OA conversation now dominated by the notion of a transition to OA, what does this mean for those native OA publishers, like PLOS, who are already OA, and have been for years?
India Will Skip Plan S, Focus on National Efforts in Science Publishing
India Will Skip Plan S, Focus on National Efforts in Science Publishing
The government's "directions will be entirely determined by the interests of Indian academia and of India", according to K. VijayRaghavan, the principal scientific adviser to the Government of India.
Ask The Chefs: Beyond the APC
It's Open Access week so this month we asked the chefs: What's next for OA? What lies beyond the APC as a funding model? Let us know your thoughts!
The Future of Open Access Business Models: APCs Are Not the Only Way
Highwire's Byron Russell reports on this year's OASPA Conference, and future paths to sustainable open access business models.
MIT Reaffirms Commitment to Open Access
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has published its final recommendations on how to increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software and educational materials.
Internalizing "Open for Whom?": Unpacking the Connection Between Equity & Open
As this year's Open Access Week kicks off, we at SPARC continue to grapple with the question: "Open for Whom?" The questions of who is included and whose interests are prioritized are central to the process of how to reach a fully open access system of sharing knowledge.
Position Statement on Open Access
Pharmaceutical companies, which fund approximately half of all biomedical research, are now leaders in the publication and disclosure of research. However, access to much company-funded research is restricted by journal paywalls.
Contextualizing Openness: Situating Open Science | IDRC - International Development Research Centre
Contextualizing Openness: Situating Open Science | IDRC - International Development Research Centre
Scholarship Has Bigger Fish to Fry Than Access
Around the globe, there are initiatives and organizations devoted to bring "Open Access" to the world, i.e., the public availability of scholarly research works, free of charge. However, the current debate seems to largely miss the point.
The Future of OA: A Large-scale Analysis Projecting Open Access Publication and Readership
The Future of OA: A Large-scale Analysis Projecting Open Access Publication and Readership
This study analyses OA papers over time. Given existing trends, the authors estimate that by 2025, the declining relevance of closed access articles is likely to change the landscape of scholarly communication in the years to come.
Overview of the African Open Access Landscape, with a Focus on Scholarly Publishing
Overview of the African Open Access Landscape, with a Focus on Scholarly Publishing
This article reports on selected findings from the pilot African Open Science Platform landscape study, conducted by the Academy of Science of South Africa, on request of the SA Department of Science and Technology.
OA Monographs: Policy and Practice for Supporting Researchers
Summary of recent activities around OA monographs.
Ethiopia Adopts a National Open Access Policy
In September, Ethiopia adopted a national open access policy for higher education institutions. EIFL guest blogger, Dr Solomon Mekonnen Tekle, librarian at Addis Ababa University Library, and EIFL Open Access Coordinator in Ethiopia, celebrates the adoption of the policy.
The MIT Press Receives a Generous Grant from the Arcadia Fund to Develop and Pilot a Sustainable Framework for Open Access Monographs
The MIT Press Receives a Generous Grant from the Arcadia Fund to Develop and Pilot a Sustainable Framework for Open Access Monographs
The MIT Press has received a three-year $850,000 grant from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, to perform a broad-based monograph publishing cost analysis and to develop and openly disseminate a durable financial framework and business plan for open access (OA) monographs.
What History Can Tell Us About the Future of Scholarly Society Journals
What History Can Tell Us About the Future of Scholarly Society Journals
In this interview, Aileen Fyfe, professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews, shares an abridged history of journal publishing at scholarly societies and her thoughts on how scholarly publishing's past can influence its present.
Why Scholarly Societies Are Vitally Important to the Academic Ecosystem
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.
Open Access in Finland: How an Open Repository Becomes a Full Service Open Publishing Platform
Open Access in Finland: How an Open Repository Becomes a Full Service Open Publishing Platform
To foster open access in Finland, universities have decided to join forces and develop a full service platform for open publishing.
Briefing Paper on Open Access to Academic Books
The Science Europe Briefing Paper identifies the key issues at stake in implementing a policy of Open Access to academic books, and outlines recommendations for different stakeholder groups to facilitate and accelerate such a policy.
Myth-busting: All Open Access Journals Can Be Listed in DOAJ
This is a myth. People think that DOAJ exists to index all open access journals. A journal can only be indexed if it passes all of our criteria. The Directory of Everything Open Access The Director…
The Problems of Unit Costs Per Article
Every five minutes or so, someone tries to come up with a cost-per-article figure for academic publishing. Martin Paul Eve explains why he finds himself wanting to resist the temptation.
Sweden's New Read & Publish Agreement
The Bibsam Consortium in Sweden signed a new tranformative Read & Publish agreement with academic publisher Springer Nature. It covers rights to publish in over 1,800 hybrid journals at no extra cost for the author as well as reading rights for over 2,100 journals since 1997.
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