SPUR5 meeting – 21 March 2014 Getting published …and open access… Steve Byford Research Information Officer RBI, Wallscourt House

Getting published: overview What’s it all for? Planning and writing your paper Choosing a journal Publishing ethics Submission and peer review After acceptance All change: open access and beyond.

Research… “…isn’t finished until it’s communicated.” Sir Mark Walport UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser & former Director, Wellcome Trust

Scholarly journals Registration Dissemination Certification Archival record …also discoverability and context.

Planning your paper Be clear on What’s new about your contribution Its current context within field Also Discuss with experienced colleagues But before writing…

Choosing a journal – 1 Consider Scope, readership, article types Standing/ reputation Acceptance rates Impact factor (but…) Publication times

Choosing a journal – 2 Editorial board Online presence and discoverability Terms of publishing agreement (e.g. copyright) OA stipulations from funding body

Preparing your paper Consult colleagues Follow the journal’s author guidelines! Use a reference manager Copyright permissions Consult colleagues

Doing the right thing – publishing ethics You take public responsibility Present an honest, accurate account List the correct authors Attribution of others’ work Declare conflicts of interest Wider requirements – informed consent, animal welfare… Check journal’s own ethical guidelines

Publishing ethics – what you must avoid Fabrication or falsification Plagiarism Duplicate submission Salami slicing Libellous or defamatory statements

Publishing ethics – further guidance Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Submitting your paper Most journals have online submission systems Read the journal’s instructions for uploading Register to create an author account Then submit your manuscript and any accompanying files

Peer review Peer review is a quality filter Most journals consult at least two anonymous experts Many journals do initial triage

Feedback from peer review Accept (rare on first pass), revise, or reject Revisions: respond carefully, calmly and courteously Include covering letter explaining how you’ve dealt with the referees’ comments

Acceptance Hooray! …what next?

Post acceptance Many journals Make accepted manuscript (AM) public almost immediately Copy edit, code and reformat Ask you to check proof Publish version of record (VoR) without waiting for complete issue Push metadata to indexing services to maximize discoverability Have preservation arrangements May still also publish in print

The times they are a-changin’

Open access – context Why change? Drivers include Resentment at publishers’ pricing and margins Perceived restrictions under subscription model Perception that online can/ should be free Concerns about re-use, text mining etc But also some deeper issues…

Numbers of researchers, journals and articles From Mabe (2004); reproduced in Mabe & Ware (2012): The STM Report November (Data from ISI and NSF.)

The growth of active, peer reviewed learned journals since 1665 Mabe (2003); reproduced in Mabe & Ware (2012)

Open access – definitions Gratis OA – Free online access to all web users Libre OA – Free online access with further re-use rights

Open access – types Gold OA when originally published – an alternative business model when supported by article publishing charges (APCs) Green Making a free copy of a published article freely available elsewhere (‘self archiving’) e.g. via repositories – no business model: cheap but unsustainable

Policy in the UK The Finch Report (2012) Recommended a clear policy direction towards publication in open access or hybrid journals, funded by article processing charges (APCs), with better funding arrangements to support them – Gold OA. Accepted by David Willetts as UK Government policy

Funder requirements Wellcome Trust –Immediate Gold, or –Green within 6 months RCUK –Immediate Gold, or –Green within 6 months (STEM) or 12 months (AHSS) –Green embargoes may be extended to months if journal offers OA option but no funds available to pay for it. HEFCE and the next REF All require CC BY licence for Gold.

OA decision tree Adopted by RCUK

The future OA is just the start…

Steve Byford Research Information Officer RBI, Wallscourt House