This document summarizes the key themes and discussion points that emerged from focus groups conducted as part of the OAPEN-UK research project. The focus groups explored issues related to open access publication of monographs, including metadata requirements, versioning and preservation, usage data collection, methods of delivery, perceptions of quality and prestige, author needs and rights, benefits and costs of open access, international and business model issues, processes and policies, consistency, profitability, risks, funding models, and calculating costs. Next steps discussed include conducting publisher interviews, institutional case studies, and engagement with organizations like DOAB and PIRUS.
The Open to Open Access (O2OA) project, Miggie Pickton, University of Northam...Repository Fringe
The Open to Open Access (O2OA) project, Miggie Pickton, University of Northampton. Presented as part of Repository Fringe 2014, 30-31st July 2014, in Edinburgh.
OAPEN-UK at UKSG Open Access Event May 2013OAPENUK
This presentation provides an introduction to open access monographs, the issues and invites participants to join in an interactrive quiz to learn about the results from the OAPEN-UK project.
In November 2013, UKSG published a UKSG and Jisc-funded research project “Impact of Library Discovery Technology” that evaluates the impact of library discovery technologies, specifically Resources Discovery Systems, on the usage of academic content. The report provides a wealth of useful information and a practical set of recommendations for actions that libraries, publishers and others in the academic information supply chain should take to engage with such technologies to best support the discovery of resources for teaching, learning and research.
Valérie Spezi discussed the key findings of the report and the implications of these findings for librarians, publishers and content providers, RDS suppliers and other national and international organisations with an interest in the information chain.
The Open to Open Access (O2OA) project, Miggie Pickton, University of Northam...Repository Fringe
The Open to Open Access (O2OA) project, Miggie Pickton, University of Northampton. Presented as part of Repository Fringe 2014, 30-31st July 2014, in Edinburgh.
OAPEN-UK at UKSG Open Access Event May 2013OAPENUK
This presentation provides an introduction to open access monographs, the issues and invites participants to join in an interactrive quiz to learn about the results from the OAPEN-UK project.
In November 2013, UKSG published a UKSG and Jisc-funded research project “Impact of Library Discovery Technology” that evaluates the impact of library discovery technologies, specifically Resources Discovery Systems, on the usage of academic content. The report provides a wealth of useful information and a practical set of recommendations for actions that libraries, publishers and others in the academic information supply chain should take to engage with such technologies to best support the discovery of resources for teaching, learning and research.
Valérie Spezi discussed the key findings of the report and the implications of these findings for librarians, publishers and content providers, RDS suppliers and other national and international organisations with an interest in the information chain.
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
The session will start with questions like: why should research funders foster open access? What are the goals of switching to an open, transparent system for scholarly publishing? The German Research Foundation’s (DFG) researcher-oriented perspective on the ‘open’ paradigm and the Dutch Research Foundation’s (NWO) open access requirements will be depicted as national examples. Finally, the session will elaborate on recent international trends and developments regarding the need to better align policies, the attempts to invest already available resources for transitioning towards open access, and the growing awareness that a dedicated infrastructure is needed in order to implement any open access policy.
The NISO Update provides the latest news about NISO's current efforts, including standards, recommended practices and community meetings covering many areas of interest to the library community. Working group members will provide updates on projects newly underway or recently completed.
Open Discovery Initiative (ODI), Laura Morse, Director, Library Systems, Harvard University
NISO Update, ALA Annual, San Francisco - June 28, 2015
Transfer - http://www.niso.org/workrooms/transfer/
Heather Staines, ProQuest SIPX, Transfer Standing Committee member
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
Figshare is a research data management platform that offers out-of-the-box compliance with the EPSRC mandate on open access to research data. Not only does figshare satisfy open data mandates but it also provides a world class research data dissemination platform. With private sharing and collaboration functionality, figshare for institutions provides a flexible and comprehensive end-to-end data management platform. This session will focus on how the University of Sheffield and the University of Salford have implemented figshare for institutions.
What are the key drivers behind the dramatic growth in library-based publishing? This session explores differences and similarities through three case studies from different countries: Sweden, the UK and the USA. The presenters will describe the forces that are changing the roles of their parent libraries and show how these are also shaping the nature of their publishing programmes. They will also discuss some of the opportunities they see for the future of libraries as publishers and the challenges these new entrants are encountering.
The Jisc-led National Monograph Strategy (NMS) roadmap set out a number of recommendations, including the design and implementation of a National Monograph Knowledgebase (a ‘Monobase’) as core infrastructure for finding and managing print and digital monographs. This session will report on progress towards establishing that Knowledgebase, set out forward plans, and invite the breakout attendees to discuss ideal outcomes and give their own perspectives on the work.
An Account and Analysis of the Implementation of Various E-Book Business Mode...Charleston Conference
Presented at the 2015 Charleston Conference by Martin Borchert, Associate Director, Library Services (Information Resources and Research Support), QUT (Queensland University of Technology).
Libraries are increasingly being called upon to extend
access to their online resources to users beyond their
core constituencies. Every institution has its own unique
arrangements, but they all raise similar questions for the
library: are these users included under our existing licences
or are separate ones needed? Will we have to pay more, and
if so, how much? Where can I go for advice? Learn about the
guidelines Jisc Collections has developed, and hear from
two librarians who have successfully implemented their own
solutions: Anna Franca on KCL’s work with an NHS Trust
and Ruth Dale on Nottingham’s overseas campuses.
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
At a time of rapid change in scholarly communications, it
can be challenging for publishers and libraries in the not-forprofit
sector to keep up with our customers’ needs and with
our competitors’ offerings. This session will explore what two
university presses and a library are doing to support their
researchers and authors and how they make those decisions
when money is tight. Is it best to build, buy or partner? How
can innovation be balanced with fulfilling more traditional
customer expectations and managing legacy products or
services? To what extent can and should libraries and not-forprofit publishers accommodate the plethora of new scholarly
and educational tools and services?
Annual Benchmarking Survey
One of the questions we aim to answer during the project is how do perceptions of open access monograph publication change among participants during the project? This question relates specifically to the members of our Steering Group and the authors of the titles in the pilot. Through an annual benchmarking survey we will explore if their attitudes and perceptions towards open access publishing change as the project progresses.
Baseline survey
This presentation reports the findings of our baseline survey of steering group members and participating authors to explore the effect that participating in the project has upon their views of open access monograph publishing.
The survey was carried out between November 2011 and February 2012. The next iteration will be carried out in November 2012, once the project participants have seen the first year’s sales and usage data.
Open Access monographs and impacts on publisher workflows, ALPSP 2013 conferenceOAPENUK
Presentation on initial findings from the interviews with publishers conducted as part of the OAPEN-UK project. This presentation highlights some of the key pressure points, identifies where workflows need adaptation and presents recommendations on best practice processes to help publishers transition to open access monograph publishing.
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
The session will start with questions like: why should research funders foster open access? What are the goals of switching to an open, transparent system for scholarly publishing? The German Research Foundation’s (DFG) researcher-oriented perspective on the ‘open’ paradigm and the Dutch Research Foundation’s (NWO) open access requirements will be depicted as national examples. Finally, the session will elaborate on recent international trends and developments regarding the need to better align policies, the attempts to invest already available resources for transitioning towards open access, and the growing awareness that a dedicated infrastructure is needed in order to implement any open access policy.
The NISO Update provides the latest news about NISO's current efforts, including standards, recommended practices and community meetings covering many areas of interest to the library community. Working group members will provide updates on projects newly underway or recently completed.
Open Discovery Initiative (ODI), Laura Morse, Director, Library Systems, Harvard University
NISO Update, ALA Annual, San Francisco - June 28, 2015
Transfer - http://www.niso.org/workrooms/transfer/
Heather Staines, ProQuest SIPX, Transfer Standing Committee member
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
Figshare is a research data management platform that offers out-of-the-box compliance with the EPSRC mandate on open access to research data. Not only does figshare satisfy open data mandates but it also provides a world class research data dissemination platform. With private sharing and collaboration functionality, figshare for institutions provides a flexible and comprehensive end-to-end data management platform. This session will focus on how the University of Sheffield and the University of Salford have implemented figshare for institutions.
What are the key drivers behind the dramatic growth in library-based publishing? This session explores differences and similarities through three case studies from different countries: Sweden, the UK and the USA. The presenters will describe the forces that are changing the roles of their parent libraries and show how these are also shaping the nature of their publishing programmes. They will also discuss some of the opportunities they see for the future of libraries as publishers and the challenges these new entrants are encountering.
The Jisc-led National Monograph Strategy (NMS) roadmap set out a number of recommendations, including the design and implementation of a National Monograph Knowledgebase (a ‘Monobase’) as core infrastructure for finding and managing print and digital monographs. This session will report on progress towards establishing that Knowledgebase, set out forward plans, and invite the breakout attendees to discuss ideal outcomes and give their own perspectives on the work.
An Account and Analysis of the Implementation of Various E-Book Business Mode...Charleston Conference
Presented at the 2015 Charleston Conference by Martin Borchert, Associate Director, Library Services (Information Resources and Research Support), QUT (Queensland University of Technology).
Libraries are increasingly being called upon to extend
access to their online resources to users beyond their
core constituencies. Every institution has its own unique
arrangements, but they all raise similar questions for the
library: are these users included under our existing licences
or are separate ones needed? Will we have to pay more, and
if so, how much? Where can I go for advice? Learn about the
guidelines Jisc Collections has developed, and hear from
two librarians who have successfully implemented their own
solutions: Anna Franca on KCL’s work with an NHS Trust
and Ruth Dale on Nottingham’s overseas campuses.
Collection development is big business and how academic libraries decide to invest in content is radically changing. This is being driven as much by new approaches to organisational design, relationship management, and data insight in universities as by changes to business models and technology in scholarly publishing and the supply chain. Based on recent experience at Edinburgh, Manchester and Northumbria, this participatory session will explore new strategies for collection development, and specifically address challenges and opportunities faced by libraries that have moved or are transitioning from traditional subject librarian roles.
At a time of rapid change in scholarly communications, it
can be challenging for publishers and libraries in the not-forprofit
sector to keep up with our customers’ needs and with
our competitors’ offerings. This session will explore what two
university presses and a library are doing to support their
researchers and authors and how they make those decisions
when money is tight. Is it best to build, buy or partner? How
can innovation be balanced with fulfilling more traditional
customer expectations and managing legacy products or
services? To what extent can and should libraries and not-forprofit publishers accommodate the plethora of new scholarly
and educational tools and services?
Annual Benchmarking Survey
One of the questions we aim to answer during the project is how do perceptions of open access monograph publication change among participants during the project? This question relates specifically to the members of our Steering Group and the authors of the titles in the pilot. Through an annual benchmarking survey we will explore if their attitudes and perceptions towards open access publishing change as the project progresses.
Baseline survey
This presentation reports the findings of our baseline survey of steering group members and participating authors to explore the effect that participating in the project has upon their views of open access monograph publishing.
The survey was carried out between November 2011 and February 2012. The next iteration will be carried out in November 2012, once the project participants have seen the first year’s sales and usage data.
Open Access monographs and impacts on publisher workflows, ALPSP 2013 conferenceOAPENUK
Presentation on initial findings from the interviews with publishers conducted as part of the OAPEN-UK project. This presentation highlights some of the key pressure points, identifies where workflows need adaptation and presents recommendations on best practice processes to help publishers transition to open access monograph publishing.
Researcher survey
This presentation reports on the findings of our survey of humanities and social science (HSS) researchers. We carried out the survey between February and May 2012, and achieved 690 usable responses. The survey covers issues including attitudes to open access publishing and Creative Commons licensing, researchers’ preferences and priorities as both authors and readers, and their views of the overall aims of the scholarly communications system.
The survey will be used to shape our work in the third year of the OAPEN-UK project, as we begin to consider some of the cross-cutting issues such as licensing regimes, discoverability and formats which are likely to affect an open access business model for HSS monographs.
Spotlight: Michelle Klein and Wayne Arnold
THE SOCIAL COCKTAIL
Marketers mix traditional and social media, physical experiences and a layered content plan with a spalsh of Madonna to create global citizenship for their consumers
Sthlm Uni Press Presentation @ LPC in Portland, OR, USA in March 2015Sofie Wennström
Stockholm University Press, founded by Stockholm University in 2013, is publishing its first books in early 2015. As a new player in the arena of scholarly communication the competition is hard. New presses today are born in a unique context with demand for full Open Access to research results and data, whereby there is added value to be generated to the benefit of the researchers and the University.
In this session we aim to address the possibilities and benefits inherent in the relationship between researchers and libraries in relation to future scholarly publishing and dissemination of research findings. The session will start off with analyst Sofie Wennström talking about the current state of affairs and practices at Stockholm University Press, pointing out its challenges and opportunities, especially in terms of the quality assessment process through peer-review and press management. This will be followed by a talk by Dr Thomas Neidenmark on how Stockholm University Press is working with the value of the publications and how the library and the university can turn publication data into meaningful tools for evaluation. Brian Hole will close the session with a note on how collaboration between university presses can further grow the credibility of and add quality to the peer review process. The short talks will be intertwined by interactive sessions where brief discussions in small groups in order to share ideas and experiences, also to be shared with the larger group at the end of each breakout session. The aim is to encourage the exchange of opportunities and challenges, addressing and creating take-away messages for all participants. These results will be documented in an article summarizing the session and the shared experiences.
The presentation discusses the current largely commercial-based publishing system and contextualizes it within the research assessment system. It presents institution-based non-for -profit publishing initiaves and the European Commissions policies and supports in the direction of empowering this type of scholarly communication.
A presentation, made by Lars to the Asian Council of Science Editors, on the problems facing academic publishing and what DOAJ is doing to push a change towards greater openness
Michael Markie talks about open reserch publishing platforms | OSFair2017 Workshop
Workshop title: Open Access Models & Platforms
Workshop overview:
What are the emerging models of Open Access for publications? Who should be involved? How are costs distributed over the stakeholders involved? How can OA platforms innovate further to embrace Open Science? This workshop will discuss and showcase the range of models available, including their costs and organisational aspects, to discuss their relative strengths and weaknesses in different academic contexts.
When: DAY 1 - PARALLEL SESSION 1 & 2
Lightning Talk Session 1: Establishing a Culture of Open Research
Agape – Building an Open Science Practising Community
presented by Cassandra Murphy, Agape Open Science/Maynooth University;
Open Research Practices for Research Integrity
presented by Lai Ma, University College Dublin;
Research Assessment and Incentivising Open Research Practices
presented by David O’Connell, University College Cork
Presentation by the ROER4D Curation and Dissemination Manager, Michelle Willmers, on Science Communication to the “Middleware for Collaborative Applications and Global Virtual Communities” (Magic) project.
Geoffrey Crossick is Director of the AHRC's Cultural Value Project and Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the School of Advanced Study at the University of London.
Geoffrey's presentation will focus on the project that he led for HEFCE (and supported by AHRC and ESRC) on the implications of open access for monographs and other long-form research publications.
This presentation was provided by Kevin Hawkins of The University of North Texas Libraries, during the NISO event "Long Form Content: Ebooks, Print Volumes and the Concerns of Those Who Use Both," held on March 20, 2019.
This presentation in intended to introduce Open Access (OA); the OA movement; OA advantages for authors, institutions and society; OA business models and publishing in OA; important tools for research and publishing; and other ‘open’ initiatives.
Data-Informed Decision Making for Libraries - Athenaeum21Megan Hurst
Athenaeum21 presents three case studies of assessment and evaluation programs in libraries--one past, one current, and one future. The cases use three different modes of data gathering and analysis to show the power of understanding user needs and how well your organization is meeting them.
Data-Informed Decision Making for Digital ResourcesChristine Madsen
This session will provide three case studies of assessment and evaluation programs in libraries--one past, one current, and one future. The cases use three different modes of data gathering and analysis and show the power of understanding user needs and how well your organization is meeting them.
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
2. ‘Scholars do not work in a vacuum;
research is based on work from others and
new discoveries must be disseminated in
order to be used.’
Snijder,Ronald. 2010. The profits of free books - an experiment to measure the
impact of Open Access publishing.
http://sites.google.com/site/theprofitsoffreebooks/home
@oapenuk #oapenuk
3. @oapenuk #oapenuk
58 HSS titles: 2006 - 2011
Experimental Group (29 titles) Control Group
(29 titles)
OA with CC licence
OAPEN Library
Publishers website
Institutional Repository
?????
Standard e-book
agreements
Publishers website
E-book aggregators
Print version available for sale
E-book device friendly version available for sale
4. The research programme
1.How policies, processes and mechanisms need
to change in order to enable OA publication of
monographs?
2.What are the measurable effects of a move to
OA monographs?
3.How do perceptions of OA monograph
publication change among participants during
the project?
@oapenuk #oapenuk
6. Focus groups
@oapenuk #oapenuk
1. Institutional
representatives
including
librarians, institution
al repository
staff, research
managers
2. Publishers
3. Learned Societies
4. Researchers (as both
authors & readers)
5. E-book aggregators
6. Research Funders
7. Focus Groups: Key themes
1. Metadata: What is the
metadata required to
support open access
books?
2. Versioning, preservation &
archiving: What is the
version of record & how is
it preserved and who
provides archival access?
3. Usage: data collection and
standards
4. Methods of delivery:
where, standards, formats &
functionality
8. Key themes cont…
5. Quality & prestige: impact
of perceptions and maintaining
excellence
6. What do authors want:
financial reward and academic
prestige
7. Copyright:
ownership, licensing and rights
8. Benefits of OA:
opportunities, access and costs
savings
@oapenuk #oapenuk
9. Key themes cont…
9. International issues:
territories and markets
10. Changing roles: which to
keep, which to start and which
to get rid of
11. Impact on processes:
policies, mandates and
behaviour 12. Consistency: does one size
fit all?
@oapenuk #oapenuk
10. Key themes cont….
13. Ways to make OA
profitable: adding value to
content and overlay services
14. Risk: financial, reputational
and quality
15. Funding: who pays and
how?
16. Calculating costs: what is
the cost of an OA mono?
@oapenuk #oapenuk
12. Thank you & Further Info
OAPEN-UK website:
http://oapen-
uk.jiscebooks.org/
Twitter:
@oapenuk
Diigo Group:
OAPEN-UK
Caren Milloy
c.milloy@jisc-
collections.ac.uk
Ellen Collins
ellen.collins@researchinfo
net.org
@oapenuk #oapenuk
Editor's Notes
Today I’m going to introduce you to a project I am running called OAPEN-UK which is exploring open access scholarly monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences. When you hear people talking about open access it usually relates to journals and research in the STEM subjects. Indeed, when the Finch group report on their discussions, I expect that most of the recommendations will relate to the journal market. But for humanities and social science researchers, the key way that they share their research is not through writing journal articles, but through the publication of scholarly monographs. So it is important that when we talk about open access, which by its very nature aims to be inclusive rather than exclusive, we don’t ignore or leave behind HSS research.My project, OAPEN-UK is joint funded by JISC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and is a 4-year research project, that is gathering evidence to help stakeholders make informed decisions on the future of Open Access (OA) scholarly monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). It is a very much a collaborative project, working with publishers, research councils, authors, researchers and institutions to gather a range of qualitative and quantitative data which will be analysed as we go through to help us understand what the challenges are and what developments would be required to support open access scholarly monographs.
So why are we doing this project now?I’ve already mentioned that the academic monograph is very important to HSS researchers as it is how they share and disseminate their research but it is also closely linked to prestige and career progression. But over the last decade, there is a concern that the dissemination of the monograph, in print format, is being restricted and readership reduced. Sales to libraries have been in decline and costs have risen, to the point that some academics are suggesting that what is being published is being driven by financial pressures, and that as a result, important, but unprofitable research, is being ignored.At the moment, there is a lot of activity around the monograph, with a push to making electronic versions the key format for dissemination. We have seen a lot of collaboration and shared platforms being developed - the launch of UPCC Book Collections on Project Muse, the launch of OUP and CUP’s scholarly platforms are all examples, and these new models may be the way to support the future of the monograph. But they do continue to rely on library budgets which are themselves under pressure and there are still limits on dissemination and readership to those subscribing institutions and individual purchases. Open access publishing doesn’t limit dissemination or readership and given the current financial pressures of the market we think it is worth exploring to see if it is a model that is financially viable, that could be adopted by researchers and whether it would support a vibrant research environment in the HSS.OAPEN-UK is going to do just that - explore the challenges, risks and potential opportunities of an open access model for scholarly monographs. The projectisnt going to be able to prove open access, but it will provide us with a wealth of data and understanding to enable stakeholders to make some informed decisions about a move to an open access model. So how are we going to do it?
We are piloting the model used by the OAPEN project which was an EU project whereby a grant is paid to the publisher who publish a PDF of the monograph available under a creative commons licence but can also generate revenue through sales of print and ebook device friendly editions such as epub.What we have done though is set up two groups in our pilot – the open access group and the control group. Publishers were invited to submit titles for inclusion in the pilot but they had to submit pairs of titles matched on subject area, publication date, sales etc. The pairs were then selected by the project’s Steering Group and one from each pair randomly selected to go into the experimental group and one into the control group.The titles in the OA pot are made available under a CC licence from the publishers website, the OAPEN Library website and IRs. The control group titles are made available for sale under the publishers normal route such as for sale to libraries as part of packages, via aggregators.All the titles, whether OA or Control are available for purchase in print format and some are also available in epub or specific e-formats such as amz. We have 58 tiles from Palgrave Macmillan, Taylor & Francis, Berg Publishers, Liverpool University Press and University Wales Press and over the next three years we will gather and compare sales and usage data for each group to measure the effects on OA.The pilot is just one part of OAPEN UK, we are also running a large programme of research
A core part of OAPEN-UK is data gathering. We have learnt from previous projects that it is necessary to gather data over at least a three year period if you are going to have anything useful to say, especially when dealing with citations and research. We have condensed the research into three questions: 1. How policies, processes and mechanisms need to change in order to enable OA publication of monographs?Business model will include looking at prices, variation in prices by publisher, e-only OA as a viable strategy and the potential ongoing need or demand for print, the most effective way to manage OA fees, licensing regimes, IPR and reuse rights and royalties.Organisational policies will include changes that funders make to their OA policies, that libraries make to their purchasing and selection policies, that repositories make to their depositing policies and that institutions make to comply with all of the above.Technical changes will include back- and front-end system changes made by publishers, integration into existing library systems, changes to funder systems for awarding grants and discoverability2. What are the measurable effects of a move to OA monographs?On readership/ usage, sales, citation - These issues should all be covered by the hard data that we are collecting – they are about things that can be measured by counting something. Changes in attitudes and perceptions should be covered in question 3.3. How do perceptions of OA monograph publication change among participants during the project?Perceived risks and benefits might include issues such as business models, readership, academic reward, discoverability, quality, depending upon who we are talking to.
In a project like this, it is really important that we understand the issues and challenges faced by each stakeholder – some we may already know about as they are similar to the journals market, or perhaps the ebooks market in general, but many are distinct to the format and disciplines. The qualitative packages began with a series of six focus groups with key stakeholders to understand how they might be affected by open access monograph publications. The stakeholders were academics; institutional staff including librarians, repository managers, and research managers; publishers; learned societies; e-book aggregators; and research funders.We had not originally planned to talk to the ebook aggregators, but we decided that it was important to include them as a key part in the current ebook discovery and access chain. In each focus group we used a series of exercises to identify the risks, opportunities and questions that each group might experience in moving towards a more open access system for publication. The focus groups were extremely interesting and helped us identify key themes and areas that need further testing and discussion.Although we have completed the annual benchmarking survey and the researcher survey, today I am going to mostly stick to the findings from the focus groups as I believe that they provide the best and most unbiased overview of the challenges and issues of open access in the humanities and social sciences. Where I have some figures from the benchmarking survey and the researcher survey I will show these, but these have not yet been fully analysed.
So after we had completed the focus groups, we spent a day surrounded by post it notes, categorising them into key themes. Metadata was mentioned in most of the focus groups and was recognised by all as critical to the discovery of OA monographs. Participants discussed what fields metadata for an open access book should contain and how these might be standardised – for example, should it include the ‘funder’ of the research, should it include details about the CC licence it is released under? But perhaps one of the more interesting areas of discussion was around who should be creating the metadata in the first place – which could differ depending on the model applied. Should the authors be creating the metadata or does it remain a role for the publisher? What if the model is through a IR, does the creation of metadata rest with librarians or the IR managers or the authors? For ebook aggregators- was this perhaps where they might have a role – in creating and maintaining metadata?There were also discussions about how the metadata is released into the supply chain if based on a model like we are using where the print and ebook device editions are available to purchase? Who is in charge of this and in what format. Who makes sure that OA mono metadata (and content) is indexed by the discovery services? Is this through a central service?The importance of metadata in terms of the supply chain is very important as two questions in the researcher survey show:
Quality and Prestige was a major focus of all the focus groups. The publishers talked about their brands and reputations and the risks to them in moving to an OA model. Much of this is centred on the perceptions that people have and there was a sense from the focus groups that this need to be addressed when looking into an OA model. This is reflected in the responses to one of the questions we asked in the researcher survey
Changing Roles:valued publisher services:Distribution and salesMarketing and promotionCopy editingCoordination of peer reviewDesign and layoutResearchers would probably be happy to take on coordination of peer review and copy editing themselves but feel very strongly (70%) that they don’t want to do distribution and sales / marketing The top valued publisher services response matched the responses to the question on the factors that influenced their choice of publisher for the last monograph they published:Disseminating to the audience I want to reach = 45%Commissioned by publisher = 42%Trust quality assurance mechanisms = 36%Best in academic field = 32%What is interesting then in the amount of authors that say they are commissioned – much higher than anticipated and therefore what impact will this have in an OA model?