Finding Alternative SHERPA/RoMEO Colours Peter Millington Open Repositories 2014

SHERPA/RoMEO Colours Everyone uses them – Even publishers …but… Everyone thinks they are out of date – They’re about which combination of versions can be archived – i.e. Pre- and/or Post-prints Some people think pre-prints are a bad idea – They do not distinguish between Published and Accepted versions – They’re both post-prints But we all think Published is better than Accepted

What people want to do is… Have the best open access version 1.Published version 2.Accepted version 3.Submitted version As soon as possible – Immediately – ideal – Shortest possible embargo But…

…if you could only have one option… Is it better to have, e.g. – The accepted version at the time of publication Or – The published version 12 months after publication? Opinions will vary according to… – Role – e.g. researcher, librarian, publisher, etc – Subject – e.g. medicine, physics, humanities, etc.

Here is tool to gather opinions Grid of versions versus embargoes Users assign colours to cells in the grid

A medical researcher might say… Submitted versions might be dangerously incorrect, so…

…and a publisher might say… There must be embargoes, so… They would set a low ‘green’ barrier

This tool… Gathers opinions – from a wide range of interested parties Analyses the results – to see if there is a consensus Possibly leads to a new set of RoMEO colours – More relevant – More useful

Such as… Green – Authoritative version immediately Blue – Authoritative version within a reasonable timescale Yellow – Something eventually White – Archiving not permitted

Example RoMEO Colour Matrix Earliest dates for each version The new RoMEO colour is the ‘best’ colour

et voilà Give it a try!