The world of scholarly communication and research support is a fast moving one. Many different external developments can influence local practices but the speed can make it hard to keep up. Join the OSC for this short and accessible webinar which outlines some of the key developments in the scholarly communication landscape over the last year including the launch of Plan S, the breakdown of negotiations with Elsevier in Europe and the current copyright lawsuits against ResearchGate.

1. Scholarly Communication Update
Claire Sewell
Research Support Skills Coordinator

2. Outline
o Plan S
o Contract cancellations in Germany and Sweden
o SciHub
o Elsevier vs ResearchGate

3. Plan S

4. Key principles
o Authors will retain copyright in
their publications, which should
be published under an open
license
o Coalition members will establish
a set of criteria for compliant OA
journals and platforms
o Coalition members will offer
incentives for the creation of
these journals and platforms
where they don’t exist
o Any fees for publication should
be covered by funders or
universities
o All publication fees should be
capped or standardised
o Those responsible for the
management of OA should align
their strategies
o The timeline for OA monographs
may be extended
o The importance of OA archives
and repositories is clearly
acknowledged
o So-called hybrid OA journals
which offer both closed and open
content are not compliant
o Coalition members will monitor
and sanction compliance

5. Copyright
Authors will retain copyright in their publications, which should
be published under an open license

6. Journals
Coalition members will establish a set of criteria for compliant
Open Access journals and platforms
Coalition members will offer incentives for the creation of these
journals and platforms where they don’t exist

7. Hybrid
So-called hybrid Open Access journals which offer both closed
and open content are not compliant

8. Contract cancellations

9. What’s the story?
o Subscription prices are rising but library budgets are not
o Negotiations between library consortia and publishers have
stalled
o Institutions in Germany and Sweden have been cut off from
the latest articles

10. What’s the solution?

11. What’s the solution?
Read and Publish Agreement
Authors
publish with a
journal
Articles are
made openly
available
Institutions pay
for perpetual
access
Over time more outputs are made Open Access and the
need for subscriptions is reduced

12. SciHub

13. What’s SciHub?
o Aims to make closed access research papers available
o Illegal uploads of legally downloaded papers
o Consistently sued for copyright infringement

14. Elsevier vs ResearchGate

15. The problem
o Social networking site for researchers
o Legal proceedings launched by Elsevier and the American
Chemical Society
o Previous lawsuits have resulted in mass takedowns

16. More information
Unlocking Research
https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/
@CamOpenAccess
@CamOpenData

17. Questions

18. Thanks!
Claire Sewell
Research Support Skills Coordinator
Office of Scholarly Communication
ces43@cam.ac.uk