Terms Of Open Access Research Articles

Transforming scholarly communications: The part played by the pandemic and the contribution of early career researchers

AbstractInvestigates whether junior researchers believe that the scholarly communication system is changing in a significant way, whether they have contributed to the changes they envisaged, whether the pandemic has fast‐forwarded change and what they thought a transformed system might look like. The data are drawn from the Harbingers‐2 project, which investigated the impact of the pandemic on the scholarly communications attitudes and behaviours of early career researchers (ECRs), employing repeat interviewing with around 170 science and social science junior researchers from eight countries. The article focuses on the findings of the last of three rounds of interviews, with comparisons made with the first round, held 18 months earlier, when the pandemic was most active. A majority of ECRs thought that there had been significant changes in the scholarly system, and a large minority thought that the pandemic was responsible. Most of them wanted a system that was more open in terms of open access and open data, with a third taking personal action to bring about change.

Content recruiting: Obstacle to institutional repository development in university libraries in Nigeria and South Africa

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to bring to light the obstacles to collecting contents from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a survey research design. OpenDOAR database search, online questionnaire, and IRs investigation methods were used to collect data from 41 institutional repositories in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Findings: The study found that the most popular content submitted to IRs in Nigeria and South Africa are electronic theses and dissertations, journal articles, special items (Africana collections, images, artifacts, paintings), conference and workshop papers, and research and technical reports. The comparison of institutional repository development between the two countries revealed that, South Africa is far ahead of Nigeria in terms of institutional repository development using contents emanating from the universities. South Africa is a leading African country in terms of Open Access (OA) policies and South Africa embraced open access movement earlier than Nigeria. The study identified some factors such as: lack of awareness of the existence of institutional repositories by faculty members; lack of mandatory self-archiving policy by institutions or funding bodies; considering copyright and intellectual property issues; some faculty members are skeptical on the principle of open access; some faculty members are not interested in IR; some faculty members believe it is too risky to submit their research work to IR; lack of technical skills for some faculty members to self-archive as obstacles which are peculiar to collecting contents from various contributors in both counties. Research Implication: The findings will inform University Librarians, University management and policy makers on possible ways to overcome the obstacles to recruiting content to IRs. Originality/value: The study reported on the obstacles of recruiting content from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa and the findings will inform stakeholders by designing strategies to overcome such obstacles and populate the IRs with different contents.

Recent advancements toward non-invasive imaging of retinal amyloid-beta for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

Recent advancements toward non-invasive imaging of retinal amyloid-beta for early detection of Alzheimer's disease.

The Roles of Female Involvement and Risk Aversion in Open Access Publishing Patterns in Vietnamese Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract Purpose The open-access (OA) publishing model can help improve researchers’ outreach, thanks to its accessibility and visibility to the public. Therefore, the presentation of female researchers can benefit from the OA publishing model. Despite that, little is known about how gender affects OA practices. Thus, the current study explores the effects of female involvement and risk aversion on OA publishing patterns among Vietnamese social sciences and humanities. Design/methodology/approach The study employed Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) on a dataset of 3,122 Vietnamese social sciences and humanities (SS&H) publications during 2008–2019. The Mindsponge mechanism was specifically used to construct theoretical models, while Bayesian inference was utilized for fitting models. Findings The result showed a positive association between female participation and OA publishing probability. However, the positive effect of female involvement on OA publishing probability was negated by the high ratio of female researchers in a publication. OA status was negatively associated with the JIF of the journal in which the publication was published, but the relationship was moderated by the involvement of a female researcher(s). The findings suggested that Vietnamese female researchers might be more likely to publish under the OA model in journals with high JIF for avoiding the risk of public criticism. Research limitations The study could only provide evidence on the association between female involvement and OA publishing probability. However, whether to publish under OA terms is often determined by the first or corresponding authors, but not necessarily gender-based. Practical implications Systematically coordinated actions are suggested to better support women and promote the OA movement in Vietnam. Originality/value The findings show the OA publishing patterns of female researchers in Vietnamese SS&H.

Forecast of the Development of Russian Scientific Journals: Open Access Journals

The article analyzes Russian open access scholarly journals in the context of improving the presentation of the results of scientific research of Russian scientists. The advantages and problems of supporting open access publications are considered, taking into account the analysis of the interests of the stakeholders of scientific publications, examples of state policy for supporting open access publications are presented, and options for adapting the open access model in Russia are formulated. The analysis of the representation of information on the terms of open access for Russian journals is carried out. The citation rate of open access journals was investigated in comparison with the citation rate of traditional subscription publications taking into account the types of open access and the country of the author of the publication. Proposals for adjusting the editorial policy in order to promote Russian journals, improve their quality and accessibility are presented. The final conclusions are made for the entire series of articles devoted to the forecast of the development of Russian journals.

Comparison of subscription access and open access obstetrics and gynecology journals in the SCImago database.

The aim of this study is to compare the annual SJR and to evaluate the other parameters that show the scientific effect of journals in terms of open access (OA) or subscription access (SA) in the field of obstetrics and gynecology according to the SCImago database. This study was conducted between September-December 2019 at Near East University. The SCImago Journal & Country Rank database was used to collect information about the journals. We evaluated and compared the changes in the one-year SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) and journal impact factor (JIF) of OA and SA journals. Data from 183 scientific journals in the field of obstetrics and gynecology from the period between 1999 and 2018 were evaluated, where 140 of these journals were SA and 43 were OA. The average SJR of OA journals in 1999 was 0.17, while it was 0.38 for SA journals. In 2018, these values were 0.31 and 0.78 for OA and SA journals, respectively. In the comparison of JIF, the average of the OA journals in 1999 was 0.09, while it was 0.66 for SA journals. In 2018, these values were 0.80 and 1.93 for OA and SA journals, respectively. Access to information has become easier due to technological developments and this will continue to affect the access policies of journals. Despite the disadvantages of predator journals, the rise of OA journals in terms of number and quality is likely to continue.

Salami Science in the Age of Open Data: Déjà lu and Accountability in Management and Business Research

The growth in the number of scientific research articles that are daily made available to society through their publication in scientific journals has been explicit. In fact, as illustrated by Table 1, in 2018 approximately 2.6 million scientific articles were published, which suggests an annual growth in the area of 3.8% since 2008. During this period, while economically developed countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada have presented annual growth rates inferior to the world average (0.71%, 1.28%, 0.67%, and 1.19% respectively), there has been a significant percentage growth in the number of publications in economically emerging countries — including the annual growth rates of China (7.81%), India (10.73%), Russia (9.88%), Brazil (5.42%), and Iran (10.99%). A priori this growth is very positive, since scientific publications continue to be the best way to validate knowledge and for the authors to receive recognized credit. However, it imposes a group of equally growing costs. We can highlight not just financial costs, but also costs that tend to be forgotten, such as more and more onerous workloads for evaluators and the allocation of resources to process submissions (yes, there is a considerable cost in these activities). Examined together with observed conditions of stocks and flows, it appears reasonable to examine and maintain under observation the sustainability of scientific publication as we know it, especially in terms of open access. The field of management and business, like other fields of knowledge, is subject to these preoccupations, and the Journal of Contemporary Administration (RAC) shares these concerns.

The Canada Trademarks Dataset

This article discloses and describes a new research dataset representing the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s historical archive of trademark applications. Both the dataset and the code used to build and analyze it are presented for public use on open-access terms. Analyses provide descriptive measures of the performance of Canada’s trademark registration system, both independently and in comparison to the United States and Australia. The full dataset release, including all associated scripts and data files, can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ut12av2aqrbqpm/AAA1klMmtyY8_hjO2NYvJuYGa?dl=0.

Research waste-related editorial policies of leading dental journals: Situation 2018.

To study whether specific recommendations aimed at reducing avoidable research waste were included in the author instructions of leading dental journals. We identified 109 peer-reviewed and original research-oriented dental journals that were indexed in the MEDLINE and/or SCIE database in 2018. Two authors extracted independently information regarding the endorsement of reporting guidelines (RGs), ICMJE recommendations, trial or systematic review registration, and open access (OA) and data sharing policies. All 109 journals provided online "instructions to authors," among which 64 journals (58.7%) mentioned RGs. The ICMJE recommendations were endorsed by 74 journals (67.9%), and trial and systematic review registration were mentioned by 48 (44.0%) and 6 (5.5%) of the journals, respectively. In terms of OA, most journals stated they were hybrid OA (82.0%) and direct OA (15.4%), while data sharing policy was recommended by 32 (29.4%) journals. Statistical analyses suggest that these policies were more frequently mentioned by SCIE-indexed journals, higher-impact journals, and journals that endorsed the ICMJE recommendations. Reporting guidelines, OA and data sharing are important tools for enhancing research communication, translation and the reduction of avoidable research waste. However, currently they are not widely endorsed by dental journals.

Institutional Open Repository Approach in Accessing and Sharing Scientific Knowledge: The Case of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University

The aim of this study is to determine the level of awareness of Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University (AYBU) academicians in terms of open access, open science and institutional open repository and to develop recommendations for more effective utilization of the institutional open repository. Moreover, it is also aimed to develop and expand the use of the AYBU’s open access policy in the light of new developments in open science. Within the scope of this research, the description method was carried out and a questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The survey was sent to 1,152 academicians working in the AYBU in 2018; and 225 academicians answered it. Collected data analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statistics Package. The results of the study showed the level of awareness of academicians about open access and the level of utilization of the AYBU institutional open repository were found out low. However, it was depicted by the results that the majority of the academicians actively benefited from Internet technologies in accessing information and supported the idea of access to information with no charge. Nevertheless, the rate of supporters of open access to information is higher than those who want to share the information they produce with open access. It was also found out that the vast majority of academicians want to be informed about the institutional open repositories. It can be claimed that it is necessary for the AYBU management to cooperate with the Department of Library and Documentation to inform academicians of AYBU about the institutional open repository. They should be supported and encouraged by the management for the use of open repositories. Sustainability of information activities and inclusion in the continuing education process will lead to a more functional progress of the process.

The RISC-KIT storm impact database: A new tool in support of DRR

This paper presents a new storm impact database for European coastlines that facilitates the upload, browsing and download of a broad range of physical and impact information related to historical and recent marine storm events. The database is transparent in terms of open access to raw data and metadata, makes use of version control systems through the OpenEarth repository and promotes the use of international standards. A total of 298 storm events are currently stored in the database from the ten RISC-KIT case study sites, including historical events dating back to the sixteenth century. To demonstrate the application of the tool, examples of typical event data contained within the database as well as the ability of the database to identify impacts of events across regions are presented. It is envisaged that this database will expand beyond the ten case study sites, with the aim of promoting and greatly improving the collection and reporting of extreme hydro-meteorological events across Europe into the future.

Open Access terminology

Critical comments by one of peer-reviewer initiate discussion on three open access terms. The referent required to replace the words “open access” by the words “free access” in prepared for publication article. A lot of examples have been presented including basic documents and declarations, names of famous world systems and projects as an evidence of sustainable use of this term during decades. This term needs not to be changed and there are no reasons to wrong translation of the words “open access”. One more question deals with the spelling of the Russian translation of the word “repository”. Finally, there is not yet an adequate Russian translation of Creative Commons.

Stepping up Open Science Training for European Research

Open science refers to all things open in research and scholarly communication: from publications and research data to code, models and methods as well as quality evaluation based on open peer review. However, getting started with implementing open science might not be as straightforward for all stakeholders. For example, what do research funders expect in terms of open access to publications and/or research data? Where and how to publish research data? How to ensure that research results are reproducible? These are all legitimate questions and, in particular, early career researchers may benefit from additional guidance and training. In this paper we review the activities of the European-funded FOSTER project which organized and supported a wide range of targeted trainings for open science, based on face-to-face events and on a growing suite of e-learning courses. This article reviews the approach and experiences gained from the first two years of the project.

ЭПИГЕНЕТИЧЕСКАЯ РЕВОЛЮЦИЯ В ПРИСТАЛЬНОМ РАССМОТРЕНИИ

Эпигенетика – одна из самых быстро расширяющихся областей естественных наук. Ее взлет часто представляют как революционный переворот, возвещающий новую эру как для эпистемологии, ориентированной на гены, так и для более широкого рассмотрения природы жизни в насыщенном знаниями обществе века молекулярных исследований. Но основы этой революции все еще надо выяснить, и действительно, сами контуры того, что считается «эпигенетическим», зачастую размыты. Это отражено и в ширящемся дискурсе о социальном значении эпигенетики, где большие ожидания сочетаются со значительной неопределенностью относительно того, какие аспекты этой науки наиболее актуальны как для политиков, так и для политики в целом. Поэтому сейчас самое подходящее время подумать о направлениях в исследовании этой революции, которые было бы полезнее всего принять в социологии. Здесь мы используем эту возможность в ее обоих аспектах, академическом и нормативном, и предложим «дорожную карту» для социологического теоретизирования относительно эпигенетики, которое не только не уведет в сторону от выделения тех ее результатов, которые имеют наибольшее социальное значение, но, можно надеяться, сориентирует на них. С этой целью мы начнем эпистемологическую переоценку эпигенетического дискурса для ревальвации его расплывчатых смыслов в качестве важнейшего ресурса всей этой области и предпочтительной отправной точки для анализа. Затем мы предложим для анализа три пути. Первый – рассмотреть структурные элементы противоречий и мнений, сложившихся вокруг эпигенетики. Второй – прозондировать общее между эпигенетическим переосмыслением феноменов жизни и нормативными установками, определяющими индивидуальную и коллективную ответственность. Третий – пролить свет на материальный выход эпигенетики и опосредованную им микроструктуризацию культуры. Мы предполагаем, что эти три комплементарные нити зададут как эпистемологические, так и социологические внутренне рефлексивные рамки для дальнейшего изучения эпигенетики как молекулярного сочленения между врожденными задатками и условиями их реализации, природой и воспитанием, и, таким образом, как нового и важнейшего фронта социальных исследований наук о жизни.

Innovation in the public sphere: reimagining law and economics to solve the National Institutes of Health publishing controversy.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are responsible for the largest proportion of biological science funding in the United States. To protect the public interest in access to publicly funded scientific research, the NIH amended terms and conditions in funding agreements after 2009, requiring funded Principal Investigators to deposit published copies of research in PubMed, an Open Access repository. Principal Investigators have partially complied with this depository requirement, and the NIH have signaled an intent to enforce grant agreement terms and conditions by stopping funding deposits and engaging in legal action.The global economic value of accessible knowledge offers a unique opportunity for courts to evaluate the impact of enforcing ‘openness’ contract terms and conditions within domestic and international economies for public and economic benefit. Through judicial enforcement of Open Access terms and conditions, the United States can increase economic efficiency for university libraries, academic participants, and public consumers, while accelerating global innovation, improving financial returns on science funding investments, and advancing more efficient scientific publishing models.

Open access in South Africa: A case study and reflections

In this paper, we locate open access in the South African higher education research context where it is, distinctively, not shaped by the policy frameworks that are profoundly changing research dissemination behaviour in other parts of the world. We define open access and account for its rise by two quite different routes. We then present a case study of journal publishing at one South African university to identify existing journal publishing practices in terms of open access. This case provides the springboard for considering the implications – both positive and negative – of global open access trends for South African – and other – research and researchers. We argue that academics’ engagement with open access and scholarly communication debates is in their interests as global networked researchers whose virtual identities and online scholarship are now a critical aspect of their professional engagement.

A possible biomedical facility at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

A well-attended meeting, called "Brainstorming discussion for a possible biomedical facility at CERN", was held by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics on 25 June 2012. This was concerned with adapting an existing, but little used, 78-m circumference CERN synchrotron to deliver a wide range of ion species, preferably from protons to at least neon ions, with beam specifications that match existing clinical facilities. The potential extensive research portfolio discussed included beam ballistics in humanoid phantoms, advanced dosimetry, remote imaging techniques and technical developments in beam delivery, including gantry design. In addition, a modern laboratory for biomedical characterisation of these beams would allow important radiobiological studies, such as relative biological effectiveness, in a dedicated facility with standardisation of experimental conditions and biological end points. A control photon and electron beam would be required nearby for relative biological effectiveness comparisons. Research beam time availability would far exceed that at other facilities throughout the world. This would allow more rapid progress in several biomedical areas, such as in charged hadron therapy of cancer, radioisotope production and radioprotection. The ethos of CERN, in terms of open access, peer-reviewed projects and governance has been so successful for High Energy Physics that application of the same to biomedicine would attract high-quality research, with possible contributions from Europe and beyond, along with potential new funding streams.