2019年10月28日 星期一

歐洲分子生物學組織(EMBO)的期刊出版費用


歐洲分子生物學組織(The European Molecular Biology Organisation, EMBO)公開了其出版的四本期刊的財務狀況,述明若期刊轉型至全OA期刊或是部分訂閱期刊的話會遇到的挑戰。

在大家都低估出版成本的此時,EMBO藉由讓出版成本公開透明來讓資助者、研究者等相關人士了解出版研究論文是有多昂貴的一件事。

EMBO出版了五本期刊,此次的報告公開了其中四本期刊出版成本狀況,這四本期刊在2017年總共出版了706篇文章,總盈餘是600萬歐元,其中400萬來自訂閱費,其他200萬則主要是來自APC。

EMBO估計每篇文章的花費是€6,340,但若是所有的費用都必須透過APC來支付,則每篇費用會是€9,040。若是沒有訂閱費的支援,EMBO無法負擔這樣高昂的費用。

EMBO最大的支出是人事成本,其他支出包含在Wiley平台上的行銷、銷售、訂閱管理等,投稿文章的審稿、退稿等都會產生費用成本。EMBO先前也建議Plan S應該廣納各種出版的形式與可能,對期刊的APC制定上限等於是問一頓飯或一件衣服需要多少成本一樣,但這必須取決於食材、布料的用料,簡單的一餐不用花多少錢,但精緻的一餐可不一定了。

原文在這
Research organisation releases publishing costs to highlight challenge of going to full open access


2019年9月17日 星期二

期刊JBC嘗試培養年輕研究者成為出色的同儕審評者


Journal of Biological Chemistry開始嘗試將年輕的研究者(early-career researcher, ECR)納入同儕審評的計畫,培養年輕研究者成為出色的同儕審評者。

期刊主編Gierasch提到目前編輯團隊的委員及外部專家加入團隊之前都受到同儕審評技能的訓練,但有些年輕的研究者可能缺乏類似機會,JBC Early-Career Reviewer Board提供博士後研究員和新的獨立調查者(newly independent investigators)一套有架構的路徑來幫助他們發展同儕審評的技巧以及學習學術出版的整個流程,JBC編輯也承諾這項計畫會納入不同領域的同儕審評者,多元化同儕審評的社群。

這個計畫有五個目標:

  1. to more deeply engage ECRs in all aspects of the science publishing process, beyond their primary experience as authors and readers; 
  2. to provide mentoring opportunities for early career investigators in the critical assessment of others' data quality and interpretation; 
  3. to familiarize early career investigators with the expectations and norms of peer review; 
  4. to nurture the guardians of science in years to come;
  5. to learn from those who are still close to the bench about their views on evolving scientific standards and the future of scientific research.

這個計畫會怎麼進行呢?

當研究者投稿到JBC時會由助理編輯(associate editor)主導整個審評過程,助理編輯接收到投稿後會從期刊編輯團隊中找審查委員審稿,有需要的話也尋求外部專家提供審稿意見;現在助理編輯可以將一名年輕的研究者也列入審稿人的清單中,與大家一起討論、審稿,助理編輯也會就年輕研究者的審稿意見提供回饋,一同討論審稿意見後再回覆給投稿者。

Gierasch期望藉由這樣的計畫培養年輕研究者同儕審評的專業、提高同儕審評的品質及位編輯團隊培育人才:
"By getting feedback on the clarity of their written reports and advice on the level of detail and emphasis in critiques, the ECRs will gain valuable information about how to constructively participate in the publishing process.” 
"We anticipate that some of our ECRs will go on to serve as full editorial board members, further establishing their credentials as experts in the field." 

Peer Review Week剛於9/16-9/20結束,今年的主題是"Quality in Peer Review",所以最近對於Peer Review的討論滿多的,The Scholarly Kitchen最新的一篇文章即是在討論如何成為一位好的同儕審評者 - How to Be A Good Peer Reviewer 。



摘譯自
1. Gierasch, L. M., and DeMartino, G.(2019) Celebrating science's next generation. J. Biol. Chem. 294, 3323–3324
2. Journal of Biological Chemistry launches program for early-career scientists





開放取用期刊出版模式逐漸成熟,Megajournal失去其優勢?



PLOS ONE是第一本綜合學科、大量出版的開放取用取開(Megajournal),於2006年開始發行至今。PLOS ONE的出版量在2013年達到高峰,年出版超過30,000篇文章,成為全球最大的期刊,但從2013年後出版量卻不斷下滑,2013-2018PLOS ONE的出版量下滑了44%。另一個開放取用期刊Scientific Reports的出版量雖然在2017超過PLOS ONE,但在隔年2018年時出版量也下滑了30%。研究顯示,在2018年,包含PLOS ONEScientific Reports及其他11Megajournal的出版量佔全球論文出版量的3%

資料來源: 取自內文,J. BRAINARD/SCIENCE; DATA: SCOPUS

雖然Megajournal的優勢仍在,例如高接受率(50%);不堅持文章的創新(novelty),相較傳統期刊,Megajournal可以接受replication studies 或是negative results的文章;收取較低的文章處理費,PLOS ONE一篇收$1595Nature CommunicationsScience Advances一篇收$4500,但實際上Megajournal除了出版量下滑,在其他方面似乎也逐漸失去開放取用期刊的優勢,例如出版速度、被引用率等。於此同時,其他專有學科或是要求較嚴格的的Megajournal在近幾年卻是逆勢成長中,例如Wolters KluwerMedicineBMJ OpenIEEE Access Nature Communications Science Advances

Megajournal具有開放取用期刊開創性的優勢,但面對出版量下滑(也意味著營收下滑)PLOS ONE 近期開始加入許多服務來吸引作者,例如出版同儕審評的評論等。


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延伸閱讀




美國維吉尼亞虛擬圖書館與Wiley達成兩年期OA協議



美國維吉尼亞虛擬圖書館(The Virtual Library of Virginia, VIVA)是維吉尼亞州的非營利學術圖書館的聯盟,聯盟成員約72個單位,包含所有維吉尼亞州州立學院及大學、32所私人非營利機構及維吉尼亞圖書館(Library of Virginia)
VIVAWiley達成兩年期實驗性OA 帳戶協議(two-year pilot Open Access Account agreement),此協議與OhioLink在六月時與Wiley達成的OA協議相似。兩年期的OA 帳戶協議將從2020年開始,聯盟與Wiley會成立一個中央基金帳戶來支付聯盟成員出版在全金色OA期刊的APC費用,這個帳戶包含用來管理支付要求的儀表板(dashboard),觀察聯盟成員之間的出版狀況。
VIVA館長Anne Osterman表示雖然協議上看起來是有利於研究密集型的機構,但這次新協議中很重要的一個因素就是不限制機構類型、機構大小、研究程度,只要是屬於聯盟機構的作者,包含助理教職員、研究生等都可以從這個帳戶中申請投稿Wiley期刊的APC費用,與Wiley達成OA協議除了有助於OA的推廣以外,也有助於經費補助較少的人文學科領域達到OA
Osterman 表示VIVA 會盡力監控OA的花費及趨勢,並將這些觀察帶入未來合約的議價中,Osterman 期望能確保VIVA 未來的合約都能建立並反映出VIVA 的聯盟價值,而非只是建立在歷史價格或是過去的計價模式。

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2019年8月4日 星期日

劍橋大學出版社開發新的開放研究平台Cambridge Open Engage



在開放科學、開放研究導向的未來,研究成果的傳播與分享越來越快速,也越來越「早」開始。

劍橋大學出版社以最新科技開發新的開放研究平台Cambridge Open Engage,協助研究者、作者出版研究的預印本(preprint)、摘要、會議論文、會議海報、灰色文獻和開放數據(open data),作者可以免費上傳這些資料,這些資料也免費開放給讀者。

這個平台不只是用來傳播研究內容,而是希望可以支援和鼓勵研究者在整個研究流程中可以產生更多的合作與連結:研究者可以在研究通過同儕審評之前就預先分享其研究、與同儕討論研究成果,在研究正式出版之前可以先建立讀者群;同時,這個平台也可以幫助研究者達到跨學科的合作與連結。


Cambridge Open Engage is the new early content platform from Cambridge University Press, designed to provide researchers with the space and resources to connect and collaborate with their communities, and rapidly disseminate early research. The platform is currently under development using a co-creation approach and we’re inviting researchers to actively input to help us shape the features and functionality. Register your interest below to stay up to date and to participate in its progress!



平台網址及頁面截圖,內含平台簡介影片 https://www.cambridge.org/engage/




2019年8月1日 星期四

JISC的研究資料分享服務(RDSS)


JISC採用工程與物理科學研究學會(Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC)對於Research data的定義:


‘Research data is defined as recorded factual material commonly retained by and accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate research findings; although the majority of such data is created in digital format, all research data is included irrespective of the format in which it is created.’

JISC約於2015年開始Research data shared service (RDSS)計畫,該計畫將聚焦資料生命週期的循環,在這個循環中,最終資料物件(finalized data objects)的獲取(ingest)、出版、長期的儲存與保存以用於出版或典藏,並且可以創建連結至現存在data creation 和managing active data的服務。




RDSS服務的建立

  • 需求調查-機構
JISC在2015年下半年啟動需求調查,了解高教單位對RDM的需求,主要包含三個部份

  1. 對各機構進行研究系統的調查(institutional survey around research systems),了解JISC各會員館機構內RDM的現況;
  2. 針對現存需求的二手資料研究 (desk research around existing requirements)
  3. 需求調查工作坊或是專家會議 (requirements gathering workshops.)

最終的需求調查結果與分析發布在The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)的招標公告中 (Jisc Research Data Shared Service Operational Requirements,https://zenodo.org/record/48261#.XUOqavL7SUk)

  • 團隊建立-實驗機構(pilot institutions)
JISC從申請參與計畫實驗的機構中依照申請機構的SIZE與類型,平衡選取了13個機構成為實驗機構,這些機構包含倫敦帝國學院、劍橋大學、紐約大學等,與JISC一起合作發展RDSS的服務。

  • 團隊建立-供應者(suppliers)
JISC使用OJEU的採購流程建立了供應商架構,這個架構可以分成8個部分:
  1. Lot 1 – Research Data Repository Suppliers
  2. Lot 2 – Repository Interfaces Suppliers
  3. Lot 3 – Research Data Exchange Interface Suppliers
  4. Lot 4 – Research Information and Administration Systems Integrations Suppliers
  5. Lot 5 – Research Data Preservation Platforms Suppliers
  6. Lot 6 – Research Data Preservation Tools Development Suppliers
  7. Lot 7 – Research Data Reporting Suppliers
  8. Lot 8 – User Experience Enhancement Suppliers.
關於供應商的需求及更多資訊可以參考 

RDSS將讓研究者可以儲存資料以用於出版、發現、安全儲存、長期的典藏與保存,這衍生了一些問題,例如:
  1. What forms of data do researchers have? 
  2. How much data are we talking about? 
  3. Where do they store their data currently? 
  4. Who else needs access to it? 
  5. How long does the data need to be kept? 
  6. What motivates researchers to share their data – or to keep it closed?

Data Asset Framework 發展於2009年,當時幫助許多單位解決處理資料集的問題,但經過數十年的變化,原先的DAF已不符合實際需求,JISC及RDSS的實驗機構開始新版本的調查(The 2016 DAF survey),了解目前英國RDM的情形,調查結果大約如下:

  1. The RDSS can fill an important gap – 75% of researchers look first to their institution to preserve their data – but we know a lot of institutions cannot fully meet this need at present. This is where the RDSS can help. 
  2. Access to institutional support for RDM remains low – only 16% of respondents are currently accessing university RDM support services. This is a twofold challenge: institutions not only need to make appropriate support services available, but also make researchers aware that they exist. 
  3. We are pushing at an open door – 68% of respondents either already share data, or expect to do so in the future. Most of them do so because they believe that research is a public good which should be open to all. We just need to make data-sharing easier. 
  4. We still have a long way to go – only 40% of respondents currently have an RDM plan, and only 18% follow established metadata standards or guidelines. Delivering change will take time.

  • 符合研究者的需求-Metadata
為了瞭解RDSS的元數據(Metadata)和資料模組是否符合需求,JISC與Clax合作舉辦了9場焦點團體,參與者是實驗機構中的研究者,結果簡略如下:

  1. The focus groups expressed concern about a number of areas with regard to metadata. Some can be addressed by training and support; many can be addressed by suppliers working with institutions and RDSS. A few require new technologies or culture change. 
  2. Early creation and collection of metadata was often mentioned. This can be achieved through the use of dynamic data management plans so that metadata is collected from the planning stage and updated throughout the data collection and analysis process. 
  3. Systems should preserve the form and content of the deposited data while allowing updating of the metadata to link to related data sets, subsequent publications and other materials which may have been created after the data was deposited. They should also allow updating of keywords and descriptive materials to reflect changes in the discipline. The facility to allow metadata to include links to other digital object identifiers (DOIs) and URLs – where a DOI does not exist – is essential. 
  4. It is often assumed that the collection of metadata will involve researchers in arduous and time-consuming form filling at data deposit time. This is undesirable and unlikely to produce good metadata. Instead, automation of tools, collection processes, equipment and metadata collection integrated into researchers’ workflow throughout the research will, ideally, allow a push-button submission of the data, with metadata already attached, to the repository.
RDSS的概念架構圖



RDSS 挑戰

從實驗機構端獲得的回饋可以歸納出幾點RDSS目前面對到的挑戰:
  1. defining a ‘minimum viable product’ with a multitude of systems, priorities and expectations
  2. fitting with existing institution and researcher workflows – for example, fitting RDSS into an institutional policy with the CRIS as the front door for researchers
  3. making preservation work for research data, when the development of systems and tools have been led by the cultural heritage system
  4. managing large data, data too large to be uploaded over the web, so greater than 5GB and including the challenges of big data
  5. managing sensitive data including commercial, personally identifiable information and medical data.