UCD Library News

Friday, May 30, 2008

Survey: > half of academic authors unsure whether publishing agreements allow a copy of their articles in IR

Bernard Lane May 28, 2008
ACADEMICS acknowledge the importance of making their research widely available but in any conflict between open access and the career-boost of a prestigious publication they would opt for the traditional, subscription journal.

A new survey by the Open Access to Knowledge Project at the Queensland University of Technology also reports that more than half of academic authors are unsure whether their publishing agreements with journals allow them to put a copy of their articles in an open access repository.

"It is, I suppose, a little unsettling to see that a lot of people are saying, 'we're not really sure what we're signing and how that will affect dissemination of our research'," said Brian Fitzgerald, OAK law project leader, although the survey showed enthusiasm for open access, especially among early career academics.

Professor Fitzgerald said universities needed to give researchers more advice about how to "strategically manage their copyright" for private benefit and public good.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Updated ranking of world repositories

Our schedule is to publish an updated version of the Ranking Web of World Repositories two times per year (January and July) as we already do with the other Rankings produced by our Cybermetrics Lab. In the meantime we want to offer a second and last beta version that collects some of the comments and advices we have received.

Thanks to Peter Suber's Open Access News blog

OA and authors' rights

Thanks to Peter Suber's Open Access News Blog


Heather Morrison, Open Access, Authors' Rights and the Commons, a presentation at the Canadian Library Association Preconference 2008: Copyright 0.9, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), 2008.
Abstract: Open Access (OA) is beginning to open up interesting conversation about scholarship and copyright. There are already more than 3,300 fully open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals listed in DOAJ, many millions of items available in open access archives. Research funders, universities and faculty themselves are requiring OA. A traditional copyright transfer agreement in which all rights are assigned by the author to the publisher, does not make sense in this environment. Most publishers are modifying how they work with authors. One approach is a more liberal copyright policy, which leaves some rights with the author. Some publishers use a license to publish approach, leaving copyright with the author and clarifying rights to publish. Many authors are negotiating copyright, whether individually or through the use of Authors' Addenda. Some publishers and authors are using Creative Commons licenses.

Monday, May 19, 2008

IREL-OPEN project is officially launched

The irel-open project, to build a repository at each Irish university plus a value-added national portal to showcase full text of Irish research, had its official launch Friday May 16th at the TCD Science Gallery. The keynote speech was from Frank Gannon of SFI and ther President of UCD was one of the guests.

The occasion also saw the launch of a new information and promotional leaflet on the project which will shortly be available for distribution.

University of Limerick repository is live!

The repository has just gone live and further project information can be viewed at
http://www.ul.ie/~library/ulir.htm

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Science Foundation Ireland proposes to establish and promote an Open Access policy

Science Foundation Ireland proposes to establish and promote an Open Access policy relating to the placement of research publications for SFI supported published research.

Responses invited by June 19th

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

How to use copyright wisely within scholarly communication

Today[May 7 2008], SURF is launching the English version of its website about copyright in higher education, especially for scholarly communcation: www.surf.nl/copyright-in-nl.

If an author transfers all of his rights exclusively to a publisher, this restricts the options for reusing the research results, for either teaching or research purposes. Doing so may also involve additional costs. Being more aware about copyright and using alternative licence models helps to optimise access to the publicly financed results of scientific and scholarly research and to reuse those results.

The website is aimed primarily at scientific and scholarly authors and tries to provide answers to such questions as:
Why do I need to concern myself with copyright matters?
Why is this important for me?
What does the law say?
What do I still need to arrange myself?

The website explains a number of basic rules, gives background information, and provides authors of scientific publications and doctoral theses with practical advice on how to deal with copyright matters. All of this makes copyright easier than many people think.

When an author publishes, he enters into relationships with the institution for which he works, with the publisher, and with other users of the publication. SURF’s new website provides information on the best way to regulate those relationships from the legal point of view for all the parties concerned, but particularly for the author.

Besides information for scientific or scholarly authors, the website also provides practical guidelines and background information for the other parties concerned: universities, publishers, and users.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

OPEN DOORS AND OPEN MINDS:What faculty authors can do to ensure open access...

A SPARC/SCIENCE-COMMONS White Paper which may be of interest.

Dublin Institute of Technology full text research repository is live

DIT repository has just gone live - take a look.

IRCSET adopts an OA mandate

Today the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) adopted its long-awaited OA mandate. From the policy:
...Where a research publication arises in whole or in part from IRCSET funded research..., the following policy will be adhered to with effect from 1st May 2008.....

1. This publication policy confirms the freedom of researchers to publish first wherever they feel is the most appropriate.

2. The effect of the policy is intended to increase the visibility of, and improve access to, the research funded by IRCSET and the State, where such research is intended to be published by the researcher(s) concerned.

3. The policy is based on recognised best practice. It is in keeping with the recommendations of the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB) Policy in relation to scientific publication. It is also in keeping with the combined OECD Ministers’ Declaration entrusting the OECD to work towards commonly agreed Principles and Guidelines on Access to Research Data from Public Funding.

A summary of the IRCSET conditions can be found on Peter Suber's blog.
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/2008/05/ircset-adopts-oa-mandate.html
In essence a postprint of all research funded by IRCSET must be placed in a repository, preferably the UCD Institutional Repository, within 6 months of acceptance for publication.