Open Access to Scholarly Communications

Open Access Scholarly Communication WorkshopVilnius, LithuaniaFebruary 2005

Overview of presentation Introduction to Open Access Open Access Journals Institutional Repositories Support of Open Access

Definition of open access

In using the term 'open access‘, we mean the free availability of peer-reviewed literature on the public internet, permitting any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles.

Driving force behind open access – Dissatisfaction at all levels

Authors: their work is not seen by all their peers – do not receive the recognition they desire

Readers: cannot view all research literature they need – less effective

Libraries: cannot satisfy information needs of their users

Background of the BOAI

December 2001, Budapest: Meeting of leaders exploring alternative publishing models. Concluded that “open access” was the goal and agreed on two main strategies for achieving it: 1. open access journals 2. institutional repositories

Open access journals

A journal which is freely available online worldwide and does not rely upon the traditional subscription based business model to generate revenue.

Open access journals

Open access journals employ a combination of new business models, among them:

Article processing fee Institutional membership Hybrid model Advertising Sponsorship

Business guides for open access journals

Guide to Business Planning for Converting a Subscription-based Journal to Open Access

Guide to Business Planning for Launching a New Open Access Journal

Model Business Plan: A Supplemental Guide for Open Access Journal Developers & Publishers

Publishers convert to open access Oxford University Press

Journal of Nucleic Acids, Journal of Botany

National Academy of SciencesProceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences

Springer – “Open Choice”* model

New open access journals BMC: over 130 titles covering all areas of

biology and medicine

PLoS: $9 million grant to launch new journals: PLoS Biology, PLoS Medicine PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Genetics,

and PLoS Pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals

Myth: ‘Open Access encourages low quality’

“If you are receiving potential payment for every article submitted there is an inherent conflict of interest that could threaten the quality of the peer review system”

Oral evidence to UK S&T Inquiry, March 1st 2004, Crispin Davis (CEO, Reed Elsevier)

Myth: ‘Open Access encourages low quality’• Journals are made by their reputation – if they get

a reputation of accepting low-quality papers then authors will not submit their papers and the journal will not survive.

• Evidence from ISI is that open access journals do not have lower impact factors than subscription journals, e.g.,• New Journal of Physics, 3rd highest IF of all IOP Journals• Arthritis Research & Therapy, IF of 5.03 • Breast Cancer Research, IF of 2.93, placing it on even

footing with its direct competitor, Breast Cancer Research & Treatment, which was established more than 20 years ago.

• Critical Care, IF of 1.91 (6th of 16 titles in Critical Care Medicine).

Institutional repositories

Publicly accessible repository (archive) where all the work published by researchers/authors affiliated with the university/academy can be posted online. Contributes to the status of the institution by displaying the intellectual output of the institution.

Institutional repositories

All work is deposited in the repository by using interoperable software, which allows the works in the repositories to be searched and harvested. Such software is called Open Archives Initiative (OAI) compliant. Examples of OAI compliant software are DSpace, E-Prints, CDSware, and i-Tor.

Institutional repository software

Institutional repositories: Copyright policy

Institutional repositories

Directory of Open Access Repositories – Lund & SHERPA

The Power of Open Access – Institutional Repositories

For 72% of papers published in the Astrophysical Journal free versions of the paper are available in repositories (mainly through ArXiv)

These 72% of papers are, on average, cited twice as often as the remaining 28% that do not have free versions available in repositories.

Economic Research

Access to Science: Exploring New Markets for Digital Journals Professors Mark McCabe & Christopher Snyder Recent article in Nature: “The best business

model for scholarly journals: an economist's perspective”http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/accessdebate/28.html

Support of Open Access BOAI, February 2002 Bethesda Statement, April 2003 Berlin Declaration, October 2003 & May

2004 Wellcome Trust, October 2003 UK Parliamentary Inquiry, 2004 U.S. Appropriations Committee, 2004

Support of Open Access

Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Bethesda statement Funders of biomedical research

encourage/support their faculty/grant recipients to publish in open access journals

Agree to pay article processing fee

Support of Open Access

Wellcome Trust (UK)October 2003 Announcement: encourages and supports the formation of open

access journals and repositories; funds the article processing fee for Trust

researchers.

Support of Open AccessMax Planck Society: Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, 22 October 2003, Berlin; 12-13 May 2004, CERN; February 28-March 1, Southampton; October 5-7 2005, Golm (developing country focus) Encourages and supports researchers and grant

recipients to publish in open access. Advocates for research published through open access

to be recognized in promotion and tenure evaluation.

Support of Open AccessUK Parliamentary Inquiry: Science and Technology Committee, 2004 Current model of scientific publishing is unsatisfactory –

82 recommendations all UK higher education institutions establish institutional

repositories create a fund to help authors pay the article processing

fees charged by open-access journals

UK Government Response

Support of Open Access

U.S. Appropriations Committee, 2004 Proposal to mandate all research funded by

National Institute of Health be made available through PubMed Central (OA) 6 months after publication in peer-reviewed journal.

February 2005 NIH policy announced which “asks” researchers to deposit articles in PMC within 12 months of publication.

Open Access: Appealing to major stakeholders Authors – as it gives wider dissemination and

impact of their work Readers – as it gives them access to all primary

literature Libraries – as it allows them to meet the

information needs of their users Funders of research – increased return on their

investment in research Institutions – as it increases their presence and

prestige Small and society publishers – as it gives them a

survival strategy

Additional Information

Additional information Budapest Open Access Initiative: http://www.soros.org/openaccess/ Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/ SPARC: http://www.arl.org/sparc Public Library of Science: http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com Bioline International: http://www.bioline.org.br/ Open Archives Initiative: http://www.openarchives.org/ SciX Project: http://www.scix.net/ Project Romeo: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php/ Max Planck Society:

http://www.zim.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin/news0321.pdf Wellcome Trust: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/1/awtvispolpub.html UK Parliamentary Inquiry Report:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/39902.htm

Thank you.

Melissa HagemannProgram ManagerOpen Access ProgramOSI/eIFL.netmhagemann@sorosny.org