Open Science

Your guide to Open Access publishing and Open Science

Tag: models
IBM Research - Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa, April 26, 2017 | © Courtesy of IBM Research/Flickr.

As Open Access Gains in Acceptance Internationally, the Plan S for its Promotion Can Have Unintended Global Consequences

In Africa, a growing number of scientific journals, such as Scientific African, operate based on different Open Access models, in recognition of their expected contribution to solving development-related problems, validating the output of local researchers and driving the formation of science-related international partnerships. In this respect, the European Plan S aimed at furthering the adoption of Open Access can reduce the market share of its subscription-based models, such as those of scholarly societies, while creating disincentives for EU-based scholars to publish at international journals that fall outside of the purview of this framework. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. In […]

Office Desk Configuration, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, January 16, 2008 | © Courtesy of Vicky Hamilton/Flickr.

Article Review Practices of Open Access Mega-Journals Demonstrate Selectivity, Apply Widely Accepted Quality Criteria

A recent qualitative study by Spezi et al. (2018), published in Open Access in the closed-access Journal of Documentation, argues that, despite the prevalent policy of checking for manuscript academic soundness or rigour only, Open Access mega-journals employ in their article review practices more stringent criteria, such as novelty or originality, that converge with those employed by traditional journals and their peer review routines. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. To arrive at their findings, Spezi and colleagues (2018) have conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 editorial and management representatives of 16 publishing houses comprising Open Access mega-journals and the rest. […]

Night View of the Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA, March 21, 2014 | © Courtesy of O Palsson/Flickr.

Conflicts with Large Journal Publishers Can Slow Down University Libraries’ Efforts to Transition to Open Access Models

The likely reason that the journal subscription contract negotiations between the library system of the University of California, comprising 100 libraries, services to about 238,000 students and resources for circa 69,000 faculty members, and Elsevier that commands a portfolio of over 1,000 journal titles appear to be dead-ending is that global publishers are yet to adjust their extant models to the demands for and of Open Access. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. While the University of California, which across its 10 campuses accounts for up to 10% of yearly scholarly output in the United States, plays hardball with Elsevier […]

Library, University of Bergen, Norway, November 11, 2008 | © Courtesy of Arne Halvorsen/Flickr.

In Response to Criticism the Plan S Adopts a Flexible Stance Toward Paywall-Based Journals and Hybrid Open Access

In its recently published implementation guidelines, the Plan S has translated its initial vision of the transition to Open Access into alternative pathways that create room for different journal publishing models. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. On November 27, 2018, the cOAlition S, which is behind the Plan S for switching to Open Access in multiple European countries, has published guidelines that elaborate on the initial principles of the plan, while reformulating its more contentious points. The task force behind these guidelines has been headed by John-Arne Røttingen, from the Research Council of Norway, and David Sweeney, who chairs […]

Stockholms Stadsbibliotek, Stockholm, Sweden, May 28, 2009 | © Courtesy of Bruno Vanbesien/Flickr.

Elsevier Gets Blocked in Sweden After it Legally Requires Internet Providers to Make Sci-Hub Locally Inaccessible

Even though Elsevier, which had failed to sign journal subscription contracts with Swedish university libraries over their demands for Open Access, has won a battle against Sci-Hub, an illegal platform for sharing scientific articles, in local courts in Sweden, Bahnhof, a local internet service provider, both complied with the injunction not to offer access to pirated content and effectively counter-blocks local attempts at browsing the websites of Elsevier and the Swedish court. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. As the largest player in the journal publishing market, Elsevier is significantly exposed to the risk that illegal file downloading, such as […]

Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada, September 15, 2012 | © Courtesy of Matt Clare/Flickr.

During the Open Access Week Universities and Libraries Confronted Barriers to Open Access and Benefits of its Models

As the Open Access Week unfolded around the globe in the last week of October, 2018, university libraries have considered the obstacles to Open Access adoption, while concentrating on its advantages, possible misinterpretations and local applications. A Blog Article by Pablo Markin. For universities, such as the Penn State University, United States, the past Open Access Week has provided an occasion to raise the awareness of staff, faculty and students of the contribution Open Access can make to removing the paywall-based barriers to the distribution and sharing of scholarly knowledge. University-level data and paper repositories can be argued to reduce […]