scholarly journals Are Funder Open Access Platforms a Good Idea?

SAGE Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401881671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Ross-Hellauer ◽  
Birgit Schmidt ◽  
Bianca Kramer

As open access (OA) to publications continues to gather momentum, we should continuously question whether it is moving in the right direction. A novel intervention in this space is the creation of OA publishing platforms commissioned by funding organizations. Examples include those of the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation, as well as recently announced initiatives from public funders like the European Commission and the Irish Health Research Board. As the number of such platforms increases, it becomes urgently necessary to assess in which ways, for better or worse, this emergent phenomenon complements or disrupts the scholarly communications landscape. This article examines ethical, organizational, and economic strengths and weaknesses of such platforms, as well as usage and uptake to date, to scope the opportunities and threats presented by funder OA platforms in the ongoing transition to OA. The article is broadly supportive of the aims and current implementations of such platforms, finding them a novel intervention which stands to help increase OA uptake, control costs of OA, lower administrative burden on researchers, and demonstrate funders’ commitment to fostering open practices. However, the article identifies key areas of concern about the potential for unintended consequences, including the appearance of conflicts of interest, difficulties of scale, potential lock-in, and issues of the branding of research. The article ends with key recommendations for future consideration which include a focus on open scholarly infrastructure.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Ross-Hellauer ◽  
Birgit Schmidt ◽  
Bianca Kramer

As open access to publications continues to gather momentum we should continuously question whether it is moving in the right direction. A novel intervention in this space is the creation of open access publishing platforms commissioned by funding organisations. Examples include those of the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation, as well as recently announced initiatives from public funders like the European Commission and the Irish Health Research Board. As the number of such platforms increases, it becomes urgently necessary to assess in which ways, for better or worse, this emergent phenomenon complements or disrupts the scholarly communications landscape. This article examines ethical, organisational and economic strengths and weaknesses of such platforms, as well as usage and uptake to date, to scope the opportunities and threats presented by funder open access platforms in the ongoing transition to open access. The article is broadly supportive of the aims and current implementations of such platforms, finding them a novel intervention which stand to help increase OA uptake, control costs of OA, lower administrative burden on researchers, and demonstrate funders’ commitment to fostering open practices. However, the article identifies key areas of concern about the potential for unintended consequences, including the appearance of conflicts of interest, difficulties of scale, potential lock-in and issues of the branding of research. The article ends with key recommendations for future consideration which include a focus on open scholarly infrastructure.


Author(s):  
Tony Ross-Hellauer ◽  
Birgit Schmidt ◽  
Bianca Kramer

As open access to publications continues to gather momentum we should continuously question whether it is moving in the right direction. A novel intervention in this space is the creation of open access publishing platforms commissioned by funding organisations. Examples include those of the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation, as well as recently announced initiatives from public funders like the European Commission and the Irish Health Research Board. As the number of such platforms increases, it becomes urgently necessary to assess in which ways, for better or worse, this emergent phenomenon complements or disrupts the scholarly communications landscape. This article examines ethical, organisational and economic strengths and weaknesses of such platforms, as well as usage and uptake to date, to scope the opportunities and threats presented by funder open access platforms in the ongoing transition to open access. The article is broadly supportive of the aims and current implementations of such platforms, finding them a novel intervention which stand to help increase OA uptake, control costs of OA, lower administrative burden on researchers, and demonstrate funders’ commitment to fostering open practices. However, the article identifies key areas of concern about the potential for unintended consequences, including the appearance of conflicts of interest, difficulties of scale, potential lock-in and issues of the branding of research. The article ends with key recommendations for future consideration which include a focus on open scholarly infrastructure.


2012 ◽  
pp. 101-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Orekhovsky

In the paper the nature of Russian corruption is considered along the lines proposed by D. North, J. Wallis, and B. Weingast. The author considers patron-client networks as basic political and economic actors of the limited access order. The redistributive rent allocated within patron-client networks is not a corruption phenomenon. The main factor that is able to destroy patron-client networks and autonomous centers of power is the right to contestation (liberalization) according to R. Dahl. Realization of that right together with the right to participate in political life enables transition to the open access society.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-100
Author(s):  
Solomon Bopape

The study of law focuses, among other aspects, on important issues relating to equality, fairness and justice in as far as free access to information and knowledgeis concerned. The launching of the Open Access to Law Movement in 1992, the promulgation of the Durham Statement on Open Access to Legal Scholarshipin 2009, and the formation of national and regional Legal Information Institutes (LIIs) should serve as an indication of how well the legal world is committed to freely publishing and distributing legal information and knowledge through the Internet to legal practitioners, legal scholars and the public at large aroundthe world. In order to establish the amount of legal scholarly content which is accessible through open access publishing innovations and initiatives, this studyanalysed the contents of websites for selected open access resources on the Internet internationally and in South Africa. The results of the study showed that there has been a steady developing trend towards the adoption of open access for legal scholarly literature internationally, while in South Africa legal scholarly literature is under the control of commercial publishers. This should be an issue for the legal scholarship which, among its focus, is to impart knowledge about the right of access to information and knowledge.


Systems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Raquel Balanay ◽  
Anthony Halog

This systematic review examines the importance of a systems/holistic approach in analyzing and addressing the footprints/impacts of business-as-usual activities regarding the development of a circular economy (CE). Recent works on why current CE approaches have to be examined in terms of reductionist vs. systems perspectives are reviewed to tackle questions pertaining to the right or the wrong way of CE implementation. ‘Doing the right thing right’ is essential for sustainability—the ultimate goal of a CE, which must be viewed as a system to begin with. The limited reductionist approach overlooks and thus cannot prognosticate on the formidable unintended consequences that emerge from ‘doing the right things wrong’, consequences that become too costly to undo. The systems approach, being holistic, is complicated and difficult to pursue but open to exciting opportunities to integrate innovations in CE analysis and implementation. Complexity is an inherent downside of the systems approach. However, both approaches are complementary, as reductionist models can be combined to create a system of comprehensive analysis to correct the approach towards implementation of current CE initiatives. This review reports that advancements in systems analytical frameworks and tools are highly important for creating general guidelines on CE analysis and implementation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Mercer

Academic librarians are increasingly expected to advocate for scholarly communications reforms such as open access to scholarly publications, yet librarians do not always practice what they preach. Previous research examined librarian attitudes toward open access, whereas this article presents results of a study of open access publishing and self-archiving behaviors of academic librarians. Following an analysis of open access to library and information science literature in 2008, several strategies to encourage academic librarians to continue to embrace open access behaviors are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaavya Pradeep Kumar

Climate change is a complex subject with terms and definitions that can seem overwhelming to non-specialists. What is ‘albedo’? What does ‘radiative forcing’ mean? What does ‘geoengineering’ entail? As climate change impacts grow more frequent and intense, it is critical that journalists, in particular, are equipped with the right information when they report. This set of open-access multilingual glossaries aim to bridge the gap between research and the general public by compiling this comprehensive list of most frequently-used terms related to climate change. A majority of these terms have been sourced from the different IPCC reports as well as public platforms such as the BBC and the Climate Reality Project.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 78-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kheng Tian Lim

Abstract Background Odynophagia can be caused by infective and non-infective inflammatory processes, benign and malignant esophageal disorders such as achalasia, gastro-esophageal reflux disease and carcinoma. Methods We described two unusual cases of odynophagia and their individual management. Results Case 1 is a 21 year-old Indian man presented with 2 days history of odynophagia after taking doxycycline capsules indicated for acne. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) was performed and showed multiple mid esophageal ulcers. Esophageal biopsy taken showed inflammatory ulcer slough with no fungal infection, dysplasia or malignancy. Doxycycline was stopped and patient recovered with complete resolution of odynophagia. Case 2 is a 55 year-old Chinese man presented with 1 day history of odynophagia and severe chest pain after eating a bowl of hot fish soup. A CT Thorax was performed which showed a localised perforation of the right wall of the esophagus with extraluminal gas posterior to the trachea. An urgent OGD was performed and an L-shaped fish bone was removed successfully and an endoclip was applied to close the puncture hole of esophagus. Patient made a full recovery without any mediastinal infection. Conclusion Odynophagia from mid esophageal ulcers secondary to doxycycline intake should be recognized and can be easily managed by stopping the antibiotics with complete resolution of the symptom. Fish ingestion leading to sharp bone induced penetrating esophageal injury can be safely managed by endoscopic removal and endoclip application. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


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