Raising your research profile

Open access publishing

Research Support Team

By the end of this briefing you should:

• Have an understanding of open access

• Be able to explain NTU’s policy on open access

• Be able to identify sources for further support

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What is open access?

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• RCUK definition – “unrestricted, online access to peer reviewed and published scholarly research papers”

• PLOS definition – “unrestricted access and unrestricted reuse”

• Work can be copied, distributed freely, adapted and made use of for non-commercial purposes

Budapest Open Access Initiative

• 2001 – public statement to promote open access (also known as Free Online Scholarship)

• 10 year plan “OA will become the default method for distributing new peer-reviewed research in every field and country”

http://www.images-libres.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Hongrie-5.jpg

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Background overview

• Finch report– Independent working party (2012) chaired by Dame Janet Finch– Supported open access, particularly the gold route

• Government response– Accepted the recommendations in the Finch report– Requested the Research Councils and four UK higher education funding bodies

to put the recommendations into practice

• Research Councils’ position– Support gold and green routes– Peer reviewed research papers which result from research that is wholly or

partially funded by the Research Councils MUST:1. be published in journals which are compliant with Research Council policy on

open access 2. include details of the funding that supported the research, and a statement on

how the underlying research materials – such as data, samples or models – can be accessed

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HEFCE, REF and open access

• HEFCE consultation on open access requirement in the post-2014 REF– “We believe that all research arising from HEFCE funding should be as widely

and freely accessible as the available channels for dissemination will allow.”– Outputs must be accessible through a UK HEI repository– Final peer reviewed text (though not necessarily identical to the publisher’s

formatted version)– Embargoes – REF main panels follow the embargo period set by the appropriate

Research Council

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Green vs. gold

Green

Authors can self-archive pre-print, post-print or publisher’s version in a repository, e.g., IRep, normally with an embargo.

Gold

Authors publish in an open access or hybrid journal that provides immediate OA to those articles on the publisher’s website. There may be an article processing charge (APC), but this is not always required.

Article Processing Charge

An APC is a fee paid to the publisher to make an article free at point of access. Whilst open access principles promote free availability of research and scholarly output, research papers are not cost-free to produce. The cost of publication is moved from the reader (via subscriptions and pay-walls) to the author (via the APC).

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Green and gold routes to open access

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http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/rsrch/rinfrastruct/oa/oa/

NTU’s OA policy

• Submit via the green route wherever possible

• Submit full text outputs (copyright permitting) to IRep

• Funding for gold route– NTU Open Access Publication Fund of £13k block grant, primarily for RCUK-

funded research outputs. Strategically important REF outputs will also be considered

– Need to get sign off from your School Research Committee– Publisher credits, e.g. RSC publications

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How does making your research open access benefit you?

• Raises the profile of your research

• Showcases your research to potential collaborators and funders

• Enables free and easier access to your research for the public

• Increases readership and impact [Davis 2011]

• Potential to increase citations [Calver & Bradley 2010]

• Adding your PDF to a repository can ensure the long term preservation of the publication

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Some common concerns and behaviours

• Attitudes (“Do I think OA is a good or bad thing?”)

• Benefits (“What are the advantages / disadvantages of OA publishing”)

• Feelings of control, confidence or self efficacy (“Do I know how to publish via OA and can I do it?”)

• Perceived ability to overcome practical barriers (“can I find the money to publish OA?”)

• Social norms (“Do my peers publish OA?”)

• Cues to action (“What would remind me to publish OA?”)

• Motivational readiness (“Am I ready to shift from traditional to OA publishing?”)

• Habit (“How have I always published?”)

Taken from the OA Good Practice blog

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But surely green means publishing in lower quality journals

You can still publish in quality journals, but normally with an embargoe.g., Cell (impact factor 33.116) – Check SHERPA/RoMEO for self-archiving policies

Definitions

Pre-print– Pre-refereeing

Post-print– final draft post-refereeing

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Your aim:

To publish in the highest quality journal with the best OA arrangements

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So, what do you need to consider?

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• Your funder’s self-archiving policies– SHERPA/FACT allows you to check if journals are compliant with certain funders’

policies

• High impact journals in your field– Contact your Research Support Librarian for further advice about Journal

Citation Reports and bibliometrics

• Compliant journals– the SHERPA/RoMEO database will help you check a publisher’s copyright and

archiving policies. Look up the journal(s) you currently publish in, or aspire to publish in, and check if you are allowed to add your articles to NTU IRep.

• OA journals in your discipline, e.g.– DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals– Bentham OA– BioMed Central

• Keep all versions of your research outputs

The Library Research Team can help you:

• Navigate publisher open access policies

• Understand copyright and embargo issues related to your publication (using the SHERPA/RoMEO database and beyond)

• Ensure compliance with funder policies (find out more using SHERPA/FACT)

• With any problems related to IRep

• Contact the team at LIBResearchTeam@ntu.ac.uk

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References and further reading

Calver, M. & Bradley, J.S., (2010). Patterns of citation of open access and non-open access conservation biology journal papers and book chapters. Conservation Biology, 24(3), pp872-880.

Davis, P.M., (2011). Open access, readership, citations: a randomized controlled trial of scientific journal publishing. The FASEB Journal [online]. 25(7). Available at: http://www.fasebj.org/content/early/2011/03/29/fj.11-183988.full.pdf [Accessed 8 August 2014].

Finch, J., (2012). Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications: report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings [online]. Available at: http://www.researchinfonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Finch-Group-report-FINAL-VERSION.pdf [Accesssed 8 August 2014].

HEFCE, [n.d.]. Policy guide: open access research [online]. Available at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/rsrch/rinfrastruct/oa/ [Accessed 8 August 2014].

Research Councils UK, (2014). Open access [online]. Available at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/openaccess/ [Accessed 8 August 2014].

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Any questions?

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