Open Attribute
Mozilla have launched a tool to help users of open content properly attribute it. It’s been around for a few years, but we’ve just discovered it! Creative Commons licensing can be complicated, as specific requirements for attribution are laid out for each license type. The Open Attribute browser plugin makes using open content much easier. When you come across open content on the web that you want to use, for example in a presentation or a paper, all you need to do is click the CC logo that the plugin adds to your browser, and it will tell you how to reference/attribute the content.
Additional Credit for OA at the Next REF
HEFCE published a series of decisions for the next REF in 2021. One of these regards open access, and is in addition to the general rule followed by the School that journal articles must be made available open access in Research Online within 3 months of acceptance for publication. It is expected that Higher Education Institutes submitting to the next REF will receive extra credit for going beyond this policy. That means, outputs like books and book chapters we can make open access may well improve our rankings in the next REF. For info on how to deposit these outputs, please see our intranet page (LSHTM members only): https://lshtm.sharepoint.com/Services/library/Pages/open-access.aspx#Section5
Wellcome Open Research
Wellcome Open Research, Wellcome’s house interdisciplinary journal, has now published 100 articles. The journal has published across a wide range of subject areas, with the most downloaded article generating 3600 views. Most of the research outputs in the journal are articles, but the journal has also attracted the attention of those seeking to publish protocols, method articles, data notes and software – research output types for which many journals do not cater. Wellcome is helping to lead the way in its promotion of post-publication, open peer review. Articles are posted and then peer reviewed, allowing reviewers to gain credit for their reviews but also making the peer-review process more transparent. Articles can then be revised by the authors after this initial publication. If you are funded by the Wellcome Trust, it is free to publish in the journal, so it could be an option for you to consider for your next publication. Website: https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/for-authors/article-guidelines
Norway to be Fully Open Access by 2024
The Norwegian government has issued new guidelines to its researchers, stating that by 2024 all publicly funded research must be open access. Items must be either gold open access or deposited in a repository. This follows the EU Council’s decision in May of last year that states that ideally all articles must be immediately accessible upon publication by 2020. This puts onus on publishers to change their policies, but also the research community to shift their journal preferences to open access ones or subscription journals with more liberally self-archiving policies. Website: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/norway-sets-open-access-target (soft paywall).
The Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies (ROARMAP) has helped to chart the growth of various open access policies. If you are confused by which policies apply to you, or have any other open access questions, please email us.
Green Open Access to be Indexed on Web of Science
Web of Science will begin to draw on green open access articles to provide users of the database with more access to journal articles. Clarivate, the owner of Web of Science, have joined with Impact Story, which runs OA DOI. OA DOI, like the Open Access Button, attempts to find open access versions of subscription content. Read more here.
Emerald Removes Embargoes
The publisher Emerald has removed embargo periods from all it sjournals. This means that even if gold open access is not paid for, an article published in an Emerald journal can be made open access via the green route (archiving in a repository) immediately after publication. Read more here.
Requiring ORCID in Publication Workflows: Open Letter
Publishers continue to sign ORCID’s open letter, which acts as a commitment by a publisher to require authors to provide their ORCID IDs when submitting articles for publication. High profile signatories include PLOS, The Royal Society, Science, Wiley, Wellcome and Springer Nature.
