1. SHERPA/RoMEO Open Access Policy Tool for Publishers Peter Millington Centre for Research Communications University of Nottingham SHERPA/RoMEO for Publishers Workshop London, 20 th July 2011

2. Whether you are for or against open access, you need a clear policy and an accurate record in RoMEO

3. Policy Tool Background Small publishers seeking guidance on policies Previous experience: OpenDOAR Policy Tool – Helping to define OA repositories’ policies – e.g. Metadata re-use, Preservation, etc. Why not a RoMEO Policy Tool for Publishers? – Possibly integration with RoMEO per se – Possible integration with JULIET Database of funders’ open access policies

4. Analysis of Existing RoMEO Data Policies for ~1000 publishers available Analysis – For common concerns – Frequent statements – Opportunities for rationalisation – Potential contradictions and logical flaws – Unnecessary or over complicated statements – Etc.

5. Variability Currently RoMEO phrases are semi-standard – Some truly standard statements – Most adapted from publishers’ statements – Some directly quoted from publishers’ policies Example of Variability – ‘May be archived after 12 months’ – ‘12 months embargo’ – ‘12 months after publication’ – ‘For release 12 months after publication’

6. Standardising RoMEO Reducing variation – Improving clarity – Improving consistency – Simplifying wherever possible Facilitating translation in to foreign languages Assigning codes to statements – Benefiting software applications

7. The Problem of Definitions (1) Current version terminology – Confusion over “Pre-prints” and “Post-prints” Future version terminology – Adopting recommendations of ‘Versions’ project – Pre-print  Submitted version Author’s version before peer review – Post-print  Accepted version Author’s final version after peer review

8. The Problem of Definitions (2) Lack of clarity – e.g. What is an “author’s own website”? – e.g. What is an “institutional server”? Implications of Technological Advances – Cloud computing The server may not physically be at the institution – CRIS & publications systems Author’s profile pages may be generated by a CRIS Or, for instance, Mendeley

9. Tool Overview Most policy statements are selected using – Checkboxes, radio buttons, pick lists, etc. Definitions and explanatory help – Non-standard limitations and notes Some literal text input, e.g. – Set acknowledgement statements Error checking, e.g. – Missing dependent options – Logical inconsistencies Structured output

10. Output Options Display – Suitable for copy-and-paste to documents – Perhaps for discussion and refinement HTML Code – For incorporation in to websites – Initial CSS styles RoMEO Preview – How the policy would appear in RoMEO Including RoMEO Colour

11. Work in Progress A few options still to be added – e.g. Links to publishers’ documents Further error checking functions required Save & RoMEO Preview not yet functional Foreign language versions

12. http://www.romeo.ac.uk/publishers/policytool.php Available for testing and feedback until 12 th August 2011 romeo@sherpa.ac.uk Demo Initial Prototype Tool

24. http://www.romeo.ac.uk/publishers/policytool.php Available for testing and feedback until 12 th August 2011 romeo@sherpa.ac.uk Initial Prototype Tool