Open access scientific publishing | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/science/open-access-scientific-publishing Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voice en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 Fri, 20 Jan 2017 04:27:25 GMT 2017-01-20T04:27:25Z en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017 The Guardian https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com Could the best way to make money from science be to give it away for free? https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2016/dec/16/could-the-best-way-to-make-money-from-science-be-to-give-it-away-for-free <p>Billionaire Larry Tanenbaum has announced a major donation that will not just fund neuroscience, but support a new way of doing it</p><p>With the help of Tanenbaum’s gift of 20 million Canadian dollars (£12million) the ‘Neuro’, the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, is setting up an experiment in experimentation, an <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/montreal-institute-going-open-accel-erate-science">Open Science Initiative</a> with the express purpose of finding out the best way to realise the potential of scientific research.</p><p>It is hard to be against ‘open science’. Openness – the public sharing and challenging of knowledge – is held up as one of the foundational ideals of science. During the cold war, Niels Bohr was not alone in arguing that this principle should apply to politics too: ‘The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness’. For much of its history, science has been ahead of the curve when it comes to openness. However, as access to online information has exploded, scientific research, much of which is hidden behind paywalls, looked like a closed shop.<br></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2016/dec/16/could-the-best-way-to-make-money-from-science-be-to-give-it-away-for-free">Continue reading...</a> Science Science policy Health policy Open source Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Philanthropy Neuroscience Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:16:00 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2016/dec/16/could-the-best-way-to-make-money-from-science-be-to-give-it-away-for-free Photograph: NYstudio/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photograph: NYstudio/Getty Images/iStockphoto Jack Stilgoe 2016-12-16T18:16:00Z All scientific papers to be free by 2020 under EU proposals https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/28/eu-ministers-2020-target-free-access-scientific-papers <p>Results of research supported by public and public-private funds set to be made freely available to all</p><p>All publicly funded scientific papers published in Europe could be made free to access by 2020, under a “life-changing” reform ordered by the European Union’s science chief, Carlos Moedas.</p><p>The Competitiveness Council, a gathering of ministers of science, innovation, trade and industry, agreed on the target following a two-day meeting in Brussels last week. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/apr/04/after-350-years-of-academic-journals-its-time-to-shake-things-up">After 350 years of academic journals it’s time to shake things up</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/28/eu-ministers-2020-target-free-access-scientific-papers">Continue reading...</a> Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Science Research European Union Europe World news Sat, 28 May 2016 15:43:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/28/eu-ministers-2020-target-free-access-scientific-papers Photograph: PhotoStock-Israel / Alamy/Alamy Photograph: PhotoStock-Israel / Alamy/Alamy Nadia Khomami 2016-05-28T15:43:23Z Australian academics seek to challenge 'web of avarice' in scientific publishing https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/14/australian-academics-seek-to-challenge-web-of-avarice-in-scientific-publishing <p>In the wake of editor-in-chief Stephen Leeder’s sacking from the Medical Journal of Australia, academics are challenging the control of a select group of publishing houses over scientific journals</p><p>The academic publishing industry is a “gigantic web of avarice and selfishness”, an eminent public health professor has said, as Australian academics seek to challenge the domination of a few publishing houses over scientific research.</p><p>Emeritus professor Stephen Leeder was sacked by the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) in April after challenging a decision to outsource some of the journal’s functions to the world’s biggest scientific publisher, Elsevier. This month he will address a symposium at the State Library of NSW where academics will discuss how to fight what they describe as the commodification of knowledge.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/07/backlash-over-stephen-leeder-sacking-puts-medical-journal-of-australia-in-peril">Backlash over Stephen Leeder sacking puts Medical Journal of Australia in peril</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/dec/09/open-access-direction-scholarly-publishing">Open access and the direction of travel in scholarly publishing</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/07/aaron-swartz-suicide-internets-own-boy">Aaron Swartz stood up for freedom and fairness – and was hounded to his death</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/14/australian-academics-seek-to-challenge-web-of-avarice-in-scientific-publishing">Continue reading...</a> Peer review and scientific publishing Australian universities Open access scientific publishing Newspapers & magazines Science Medical research Higher education Australian education Fri, 14 Aug 2015 01:11:21 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/14/australian-academics-seek-to-challenge-web-of-avarice-in-scientific-publishing Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP Melissa Davey 2015-08-14T01:11:21Z After 350 years of academic journals it’s time to shake things up https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/apr/04/after-350-years-of-academic-journals-its-time-to-shake-things-up <p>Writing and reviewing journal articles is part of the core business of a scientist. But it’s not an efficient way to communicate research results.</p><p>Researchers are estimated to <a href="http://www.ease.org.uk/sites/default/files/essay_kshashok.pdf">waste 15 million person-hours</a> a year on unpublished submissions to scientific journals. How can we make scientific communication more efficient?</p><p>This was one of the questions raised at a recent debate at a conference celebrating the <a href="http://preview.gutools.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2015/mar/06/350-years-of-the-scientific-journal-celebrating-the-anniversary-of-philosophical-transactions">350th anniversary</a> of the Philosophical Transactions, the world’s oldest scientific journal, published by the Royal Society. I am in the team of <a href="https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/philosophicaltransactions/brief-history-of-phil-trans/">historians from the University of St Andrews</a> who ran the conference, and writing a history of the journal and its editorial practices. We want to bring this history right up to the present day, and so invited four experts in scientific publishing to discuss the present and future of the learned journal. Chaired by Aileen Fyfe, from St Andrews, the roundtable debate ranged from author education to peer review and sustainable business models.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/apr/04/after-350-years-of-academic-journals-its-time-to-shake-things-up">Continue reading...</a> Science Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing History of science Sat, 04 Apr 2015 10:05:52 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2015/apr/04/after-350-years-of-academic-journals-its-time-to-shake-things-up Photograph: The Royal Society Photograph: The Royal Society Anna Gielas 2015-04-04T10:05:52Z On the importance of being negative https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2015/mar/08/on-the-importance-of-being-negative <p>The ‘publish or perish’ culture within science skews the research literature towards positive results. But negative findings matter too and new open access publications are helping researchers to give a fuller account of themselves </p><p>The latest paper from my group, <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/798/">published just over a week ago in the open access journal <em>PeerJ</em></a>, reports an unusual result. It was not the result we were looking for because it was negative: our experiment failed.</p><p>Nevertheless I am pleased with the paper – negative results matter. Their value lies in mapping out blind alleys, warning other investigators not to waste their time or at least to tread carefully. The only trouble is, it can be hard to get them published. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2015/mar/08/on-the-importance-of-being-negative">Continue reading...</a> Open access scientific publishing Biochemistry and molecular biology Sun, 08 Mar 2015 11:52:06 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2015/mar/08/on-the-importance-of-being-negative Photograph: Stephen Curry Photograph: Stephen Curry Stephen Curry 2015-03-08T11:52:06Z 350 years of the scientific journal | Noah Moxham https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2015/mar/06/350-years-of-the-scientific-journal-celebrating-the-anniversary-of-philosophical-transactions <p>The first issue of the world’s first scientific journal was published on 6 March 1665. Its anniversary gives historians and scientists an opportunity to reflect on the past, present and future of scientific publishing</p><p>The scientific journal is 350 years old today. <a href="http://rstl.royalsocietypublishing.org/">Philosophical Transactions: Giving Some Accompt of the Present Undertakings, Studies and Labours of the Ingenious in Many Considerable Parts of the World</a> was published in London by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Oldenburg">Henry Oldenburg</a>, the Secretary of the young Royal Society on 6 March 1665. It was the first periodical to be dedicated to experimental and observational science – natural or experimental philosophy to contemporaries – and is the oldest English-language periodical still in print.</p><p>The journal began life partly as a means of helping the Society in its stated aim of ‘promoting Natural Knowledge’, bringing natural philosophers into communication with one another, and keeping the Society’s correspondents abreast of news from the world of experimental learning. It was also a canny way for Oldenburg to turn his unpaid labours on the Society’s behalf to monetary advantage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2015/mar/06/350-years-of-the-scientific-journal-celebrating-the-anniversary-of-philosophical-transactions">Continue reading...</a> Science Publishing Books Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Fri, 06 Mar 2015 07:46:02 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2015/mar/06/350-years-of-the-scientific-journal-celebrating-the-anniversary-of-philosophical-transactions Photograph: Royal Society Photograph: Royal Society Noah Moxham 2015-03-06T07:46:02Z Open access and the direction of travel in scholarly publishing https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/dec/09/open-access-direction-scholarly-publishing <p>Recent moves by established journals to make research papers freely available signpost the direction of travel in academic publishing</p><p>What strange times we live in. As the world wide web has wrapped the globe in an ever-tighter network of connections, it has slowly transformed the look and feel of the place, unleashing torrents of data and changing our information culture in ways that we are still figuring out. In the world of research it is interesting to see how established publishers, who built successful businesses by selling journal subscriptions to readers, are bending themselves to fit into the new digital landscape.</p><p>The subscription model was founded on a great leap forward in technology – the printing press – and has served the research community well for over 300 years. The <em>quid pro quo</em> in which authors and reviewers worked for free while publishers took care of the technical side of production and distribution, and covered their costs by charging subscriptions, worked well – or well enough – for all that time. But the digitisation of words and images, the ease-of-use of modern software and the awesome dissemination power of the web has prompted a reassessment of research publishing and of the relationship between researchers and publishers. The web is also expanding the demand for research publications among special interest groups such as policymakers, small businesses, charities and the general public. These groups increasingly want access, either directly or mediated by news outlets or bloggers who have access to the literature and the ability to recast it into more digestible forms. </p><p>For those of us dedicated to science (…) turning the world’s attention to the contributions of the Nobel Laureates calls for a grand toast. I personally feel honored that we have the opportunity to work with such great scholars in the publication and dissemination of their groundbreaking research.</p><p>Given the current outbreak, unprecedented in terms of number of people killed and rapid geographic spread, Science and Science Translational Medicine have made this collection of research and news articles on the viral disease freely available to researchers and the general public.</p><p>Macmillan Science and Education, one of the leading publishing and technology companies in the world, today announces the launch of a groundbreaking publishing initiative that will make it easy for readers to share an unprecedented wealth of scientific knowledge instantly with researchers and scientists across the globe.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/dec/09/open-access-direction-scholarly-publishing">Continue reading...</a> Open access scientific publishing Science Peer review and scientific publishing Higher education Tue, 09 Dec 2014 11:24:30 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/dec/09/open-access-direction-scholarly-publishing Photograph: Pere Sanz/Alamy Photograph: Pere Sanz/Alamy Stephen Curry 2014-12-09T11:24:30Z What's the biggest challenge facing open access? https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/27/-sp-whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-open-access <p>From getting early career researchers on board to ensuring the global south is represented, experts describe the major hurdles facing open access</p><p>• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard">Open access: six myths to put to rest</a></p><p>The open access movement – where research papers are made freely available online, rather than published in journals that charge a hefty subscription – has grown rapidly since the turn of the century.</p><p>Open access gained a boost this year when the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) announced that all UK research post-April 2016 must be open access in order to qualify for funding assessments. But it hasn’t all been good news – a recent report suggested that open access posed a <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CCMQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.richardpoynder.co.uk%2FAspesi.pdf&amp;ei=fnZOVNq-CKip7AaImYCACA&amp;usg=AFQjCNFCIabAcal7AGh2K4LQB_Te54F3nw&amp;sig2=fnxOctmVkuFpTaYxOiarDg&amp;bvm=bv.77880786,d.ZGU&amp;cad=rja">diminishing threat to traditional publishers</a>. <br></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/27/-sp-whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-open-access">Continue reading...</a> Impact of research Higher Education Network Open access Publishing Science Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Higher education Education Research Mon, 27 Oct 2014 16:51:02 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/oct/27/-sp-whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-open-access Photograph: Alamy Could attendance allowance unlock opportunities for online information portals for social care? Photograph: Alamy Could attendance allowance unlock opportunities for online information portals for social care? Rebecca Ratcliffe 2014-10-27T16:51:02Z University research: if you believe in openness, stand up for it https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/aug/22/university-research-publish-open-access-journal <p>Publishing openly provides greater exposure, boosts prospects and can lead to more citations, says <strong>Erin McKiernan </strong><br><br>• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard">Open access: six myths to put to rest</a></p><p>We spend years teaching our children to share. Yet from the moment students enter academia, we discourage it. Lock up your work in prestigious subscription journals; keep your data close to your chest; compete instead of collaborate – these are the messages transmitted by peers and mentors. These are the tenets of our unhealthy academic culture. We need to change our priorities.</p><p>Every day we make amazing discoveries, some of which could even save lives. Then we lock that information in journals that most of the population cannot read. In many parts of the world, access to subscription journals is just too expensive.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/aug/22/university-research-publish-open-access-journal">Continue reading...</a> Higher Education Network Impact of research Publishing Academics Research Higher education Education Science Open access scientific publishing Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:46:05 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/aug/22/university-research-publish-open-access-journal Photograph: LJSphotography / Alamy/Alamy Instead of encouraging students to share information, we expect them to lock it up. Photograph: LJSphotography / Alamy/Alamy Photograph: LJSphotography / Alamy/Alamy Instead of encouraging students to share information, we expect them to lock it up. Photograph: LJSphotography / Alamy/Alamy Erin McKiernan 2014-08-22T08:46:05Z Open access: are effective measures to put UK research online under threat? https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jul/28/open-access-effective-measures-threat <p>The universities of the UK should not squander the opportunity to put in place an effective mechanism for making their published research freely available</p><p>A great deal of water has passed under the bridge in the two years since the UK government <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/01/open-free-access-academic-research">reinvigorated its push towards open access</a> – making publicly funded research papers freely available online. Although there is broad agreement on the policy, vociferous debates have raged over the details of implementation. Should the UK policy favour <em>gold</em> open access – making research papers freely available via the journal where they are published – or <em>green</em> open access, where the paper (usually the author’s final revision following peer review) is placed in a freely accessible university repository? </p><p>Much of the debate has revolved around efficacy and costs. It is widely believed that gold open access may be <a href="http://repository.jisc.ac.uk/610/">cheaper in the long run</a> – particularly if it encourages <a href="http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/About-us/Policy/Spotlight-issues/Open-access/Guides/WTP054773.htm">transparent market competition</a> – but it may be an <a href="http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january13/houghton/01houghton.html">expensive policy during any transition</a> away from established subscription models. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jul/28/open-access-effective-measures-threat">Continue reading...</a> Open access scientific publishing Higher education Peer review and scientific publishing Science Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:30:09 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jul/28/open-access-effective-measures-threat Photograph: Alamy The Long Room in the Library at Trinity College, Dublin Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy The Long Room in the Library at Trinity College, Dublin Photograph: Alamy Martin Paul Eve, Stephen Curry and Alma Swan 2014-07-28T09:30:09Z Open access is not enough on its own – data must be free too https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/26/open-access-not-enough-data-must-be-free Academics have been encouraged to make their research freely available, but their data also needs to be open to scrutiny<p>If your research has been funded by the taxpayer, there's a good chance you'll be encouraged to publish your results on an open access basis – free at point of publication and with reuse and redistribution rights.</p><p>This final article makes publicly available the hypotheses, interpretations and conclusions of your research. But what about the data that led you to those results and conclusions? Isn't the underlying data just as important to support the quality of the findings?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/26/open-access-not-enough-data-must-be-free">Continue reading...</a> Impact of research Higher Education Network Open access Technology Higher education Education Research Science Science Open access scientific publishing Technology Thu, 26 Jun 2014 14:09:14 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/jun/26/open-access-not-enough-data-must-be-free Photograph: Roger Tooth/Guardian Too often key information is handwritten in a notepad that is later thrown away. Photograph: Roger Tooth for the Guardian Photograph: Roger Tooth/Guardian Too often key information is handwritten in a notepad that is later thrown away. Photograph: Roger Tooth for the Guardian Susanna-Assunta Sansone 2014-06-26T14:09:14Z Royal Society Open Science now accepting submissions | @GrrlScientist https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2014/may/22/royal-society-open-access-science-maths-submissions The new open access journal will publish high-quality peer-reviewed research from across the entire range of scientific endeavour.<p> A few months ago, I told you that the <a href="https://royalsociety.org/">Royal Society</a> of London was planning to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2014/feb/18/royal-society-open-access-science-maths-new-journal">launch a new open access science journal</a> this year. This online-only journal will publish high-quality peer-reviewed research from across the entire range of scientific endeavour. </p><p> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2014/may/22/royal-society-open-access-science-maths-submissions">Continue reading...</a> Science Royal Society Open access scientific publishing Mathematics Physics Biology Engineering general Computer science and IT Physics Thu, 22 May 2014 13:48:23 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2014/may/22/royal-society-open-access-science-maths-submissions GrrlScientist 2014-05-22T13:48:23Z Dark matter and drugs | Jon Butterworth | Life & Physics https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/may/11/dark-matter-and-drugs <p>A critique of a recent dark matter 'hint' provides a CoGeNT argument for open data </p><p>Dark matter is an enduring and exciting puzzle in physics. Multiple astrophysical observations give really strong evidence that most of the matter out there in the universe is invisible – or, more precisely, only affects other matter via its gravitational attraction. Cosmological models, which we use to understand (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ZoF7Y1pNk">and simulate</a>) how the universe developed over time, also require dark matter in order to describe what we see around us.<br></p><p>There is always the possibility that we don’t understand gravity and cosmology as well as we think we do, but it is very hard to modify gravity in a way that describes all the data. So many tweaks that need to be made, and special cases accounted for, that most physicists give up and reluctantly accept the idea that 85% of the matter in the universe is dark. Worse, while neutrinos are invisible enough to fit the bill, they are not massive enough, and therefore they don’t clump together enough, so can only account for a tiny fraction of the total dark matter. All the other particles in the Standard Model of particle physics interact with light. So they aren’t dark. So dark matter has to be something very new, which makes it interesting for particle physics as well as cosmology.<br></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/may/11/dark-matter-and-drugs">Continue reading...</a> Particle physics Physics Science Physics Astronomy Science policy Open access scientific publishing Drugs Pharmaceuticals industry Regulators Sun, 11 May 2014 16:45:52 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/may/11/dark-matter-and-drugs Photograph: Illustris/AP Dark matter density, left, transitioning to gas density, right, in a simulation of the evolution of the universe since the Big Bang. Photograph: AP/ Illustris Collaboration Photograph: Illustris/AP Dark matter density, left, transitioning to gas density, right, in a simulation of the evolution of the universe since the Big Bang. Photograph: AP/ Illustris Collaboration Jon Butterworth 2014-05-11T16:45:52Z Why we are not ready for radical changes in science publishing | Steve Caplan https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jan/06/radical-changes-science-publishing-randy-schekman There are indeed concerns about the current science publishing model, but until major changes in grant funding are incorporated, researchers will continue to lust after publications in high-tier journals<p>Having had the honor of attending back-to-back lectures by Nobel awardees Dr James Rothman and Dr Randy Schekman at the recent American Society for Cell Biology meeting in New Orleans, it was Dr Rothman's comments that struck the right chord – he specifically pointed out that the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) needs to allocate more money for basic research. Dr Rothman's talk followed a lecture by Dr Jeremy Berg, former director of the NIH's Institute for General Medical Science (NIGMS; the institute that promotes and funds basic research). In his lecture, Dr Berg noted that NIGMS receives only ~8% of the total NIH budget, yet about 60% of Nobel prizewinners are funded through this institute. Very telling, in my humble opinion. </p><p>Dr Schekman also delivered an outstanding lecture, and he has recently made a case for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/how-journals-nature-science-cell-damage-science">changing the way in which science is published</a>, here in the Guardian. Dr Schekman's main beefs are with the overwhelming attention that scientists are paying to something known as the "impact factor", and why this criterion is not a fair way to assess the merit or productivity of a researcher. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jan/06/radical-changes-science-publishing-randy-schekman">Continue reading...</a> Peer review and scientific publishing Science Open access scientific publishing Magazines Media Mon, 06 Jan 2014 13:47:38 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jan/06/radical-changes-science-publishing-randy-schekman Photograph: Ben Broomfield/Guardian The boycott of 'super-journals' with very high impact factors proposed by Nobel prizewinner Randy Sheckman misses the key point. Photograph: Ben Broomfield/Guardian Photograph: Ben Broomfield/Guardian The boycott of 'super-journals' with very high impact factors proposed by Nobel prizewinner Randy Sheckman misses the key point. Photograph: Ben Broomfield/Guardian Steve Caplan 2014-01-06T13:47:38Z How journals like Nature, Cell and Science are damaging science | Randy Schekman https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/how-journals-nature-science-cell-damage-science The incentives offered by top journals distort science, just as big bonuses distort banking<p>I am a scientist. Mine is a professional world that achieves great things for humanity. But it is disfigured by inappropriate incentives. The prevailing structures of personal reputation and career advancement mean the biggest rewards often follow the flashiest work, not the best. Those of us who follow these incentives are being entirely rational – I have followed them myself – but we do not always best serve our profession's interests, let alone those of humanity and society.</p><p>We all know what distorting incentives have done to finance and banking. The incentives my colleagues face are not huge bonuses, but the professional rewards that accompany publication in prestigious journals – chiefly <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/index.html" title="">Nature</a>, <a href="http://www.cell.com/" title="">Cell</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/" title="">Science</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/how-journals-nature-science-cell-damage-science">Continue reading...</a> Peer review and scientific publishing Science Nobel prizes Open access scientific publishing Mon, 09 Dec 2013 19:30:00 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/how-journals-nature-science-cell-damage-science Photograph: Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy The journal Science has recently retracted a high-profile paper reporting links between littering and violence. Photograph: Alamy/Janine Wiedel Photograph: Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy The journal Science has recently retracted a high-profile paper reporting links between littering and violence. Photograph: Alamy/Janine Wiedel Randy Schekman 2013-12-09T19:30:00Z Beyond Open Access: Understanding science’s closures | Alice Bell https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/beyond-open-access-understanding-sciences-enclosures Rather than simply demanding more open science, we should remember&nbsp;closure is a quite normal part of science, and instead look in detail at what's closing, when, why and to whom?<p>Openness. There’s a lot of it about. Or at least a lot of talk of it about. It’s a word long-favoured by politicians when talking about science policy. It’s also a policy goal which can seem hard to argue against.&nbsp;</p><p>But there are types of openness. Like ‘freedom’, ‘fun’ and ‘excellent’, it’s one of those words that sounds indisputably good but can be quite malleable; applied to a range of ends. Just as we should ask freedom from what, fun for whom an excellent how, we should ask questions about the contingencies and directions of any call to openness.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/beyond-open-access-understanding-sciences-enclosures">Continue reading...</a> Science Science policy Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing People in science Mon, 18 Nov 2013 17:01:09 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/beyond-open-access-understanding-sciences-enclosures Photograph: Alice Bell/author's own Graffiti by door at UCL during student protests in 2010. Photograph: Alice Bell/author's own Photograph: Alice Bell/author's own Graffiti by door at UCL during student protests in 2010. Photograph: Alice Bell/author's own Alice Bell 2013-11-18T17:01:09Z Push button for open access | Stephen Curry https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/open-access-button-push Two medical students are helping to turn the dream of making scientific research papers freely accessible into a reality, using the internet of course<p>Some say the meek will inherit the earth but in fact it will be the young. More especially, those young people who know their way around computer technology and who have sparks of imagination and creativity.&nbsp;</p><p>We have see this already among independent music and film makers and the bright young things who founded the computer companies and internet businesses that have changed the world. That change is also enveloping the business of scholarly publishing, where the 350 year old practice of distributing research results in journals printed on paper is disappearing fast. It’s not just that research is appearing on screens instead of the printed page — the whole approach to the dissemination of information is being transformed. Rather than charging readers for access, through a <a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2013/01/29/why-open-access-is-better-for-scholarly-societies/">dysfunctional market</a> that generates <a href="http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/enormous-profits-of-stm-scholarly.html">rich pickings for large publishing corporations</a>&nbsp;off the back of <a href="http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2012/04/23/harvard-we-have-a-problem/">unsustainable prices rises</a>, the move now is to lever the power of the internet to facilitate free or open access for readers.&nbsp;</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/open-access-button-push">Continue reading...</a> Open access scientific publishing Crowdsourcing Medical research Mon, 18 Nov 2013 14:10:32 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/18/open-access-button-push Photograph: David Carroll Students at work on the open access button Photograph: David Carroll Photograph: David Carroll Students at work on the open access button Photograph: David Carroll Stephen Curry 2013-11-18T14:10:32Z The future of open access research and publishing – live chat https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/oct/22/future-open-access-research-publishing Join our panel of experts Friday 25 October from 12-2pm BST to debate peer review, pay models, quality control and corruption<p>Open access to academic research – where to start? You would have been hard pressed to avoid a conversation, news story or blog post about it over the last year. From <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/oct/04/open-access-journals-fake-paper" title="">the publishing hoax</a> run by Science magazine, to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/sep/11/open-access-report-bis-committee" title="">UK MPs slamming the latest government report</a> on policy for open access research, it seems open access has never been a hotter topic.</p><p>As with anything new, this publishing model is not without its critics. So what's the future of open access? Peter Suber, director of the Harvard Office for Scholarly Communication, says <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard" title="">open access is being held back by myths and misunderstandings</a> repeated by people who should know better.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/oct/22/future-open-access-research-publishing">Continue reading...</a> Higher Education Network Live Q&A International Open access Publishing Research Academics Policy Research Higher education Education Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Science Publishing Books Tue, 22 Oct 2013 14:41:14 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/oct/22/future-open-access-research-publishing Photograph: Tom Jenkins Does the open access debate need to move beyond the tug of war between 'gold' and 'green' publishing models? Photograph: Tom Jenkins Photograph: Tom Jenkins Does the open access debate need to move beyond the tug of war between 'gold' and 'green' publishing models? Photograph: Tom Jenkins Claire Shaw 2013-10-22T14:41:14Z Open access: six myths to put to rest https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard Open access to research is still held back by misunderstandings repeated by people who should know better, says <strong>Peter Suber</strong><p>Open access to academic research has never been a hotter topic. But it's still held back by myths and misunderstandings repeated by people who should know better. The good news is that open access has been successful enough to attract comment from beyond its circle of pioneers and experts. The bad news is that a disappointing number of policy-makers, journalists and academics opine in public without doing their homework.</p><p>Here, at the start of the sixth global <a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/" title="">Open Access Week</a>, are the six most common and harmful misunderstandings about open access:</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard">Continue reading...</a> Higher Education Network Open access Research Academics Publishing Policy Professional development Higher education Education Open access scientific publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Science Research Mon, 21 Oct 2013 14:10:32 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/21/open-access-myths-peter-suber-harvard Photograph: Alamy It's time to unlock and put to rest the myths surrounding open access research, says Peter Suber. Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy It's time to unlock and put to rest the myths surrounding open access research, says Peter Suber. Photograph: Alamy Peter Suber 2013-10-21T14:10:32Z Open access publishing hoax: what Science magazine got wrong https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/04/science-hoax-peer-review-open-access The sting operation on publishers doesn't point to the real crisis, says <strong>Curt Rice</strong> – the meltdown of the peer review system<p><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/" title="">Science</a> magazine has <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6154/60.full" title="">published a blistering critique</a> of the most sacred cow of scientific research, namely the peer review quality system. Unfortunately, Science doesn't seem to have understood its own findings. It proclaims to have run a sting operation, written by <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/misc/webfeat/gonzoscientist/" title="">'gonzo scientist'</a> John Bohannon, revealing the weaknesses of the relatively new publishing model we call open access. In fact, the Science article shows exactly the opposite of what it intended, namely that we need an even wider use of open access than the one we currently have.</p><p><strong>What is open access publishing?</strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/04/science-hoax-peer-review-open-access">Continue reading...</a> Higher Education Network Open access Academics Research Publishing Peer review and scientific publishing Open access scientific publishing Science Higher education Research Science Education Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:12:44 GMT http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/04/science-hoax-peer-review-open-access Photograph: Alamy The real problem for science today is quality control, says Curt Rice. Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy The real problem for science today is quality control, says Curt Rice. Photograph: Alamy Curt Rice 2013-10-04T12:12:44Z
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