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John B. Coleman Library Ask A Librarian

Scholarly Communication & Institutional Repository: Open Access Resources

Scholarly communication(SC) is the process by which academics, scholars, and researchers share and publish their research findings so that they are available to the wider academic community and beyond.

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources

 

  • SPARC: The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication.
  • Scholarly Communication Tool kit:This is a toolki t designed to support advocacy efforts designed to transform the scholarly communication landscape.
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) : DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
  • Association of Research Libraries: Scholarly Communication News: News, updates, and blog posts on scholarly communication topics from the Association of Research Libraries.
  • Create Change: Create Change helps you understand the changing landscape of scholarly communications and how it affects you and your research. It also offers practical ways to look out for your own interests as a researcher.

Exploring Scholarly Publishing

 

In its more than 350 year history, scholarly publishing has evolved from formal publication of discoveries by elite members of scholarly societies to open dissemination of scholarly research through new technological platforms that is increasingly subject to new and emerging forms of peer review and measured for impact by traditional and alternative metrics.

In the course of scholarly publishing's history, issues have arisen with respect to the economic sustainability of publishing's business model as well as how journals should be evaluated and their impact measured. Libraries have been at the forefront in proposing solutions and developing means for addressing these issues. [Source: ACRL Scholarly Communication Toolkit]

 

This overview of Scholarly Publishing covers the following topics:

  • Evaluating Journals & Identifying Predatory Journal Publishers
  • ORCIDs and how to use them; and 
  • Open Access Publishing & OERs

Scholarly Publishing Organizations

 

Below are links to several organizations representing scholarly publishers. These organizations frequently provide webinars, handouts and other opportunities to further engage with the topic of scholarly publishing.

Open access and OERs

 

Open Access Spectrum 

OA Journals 

Sources for Open Access Publications:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals - a community-curated list of open access journals and a good starting point for identifying quality, peer-reviewed open access material. DOAJ also provides a "Best Practices" for publishers, which can be useful when evaluating journals for quality.
  • Open DOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories)
    • OpenDOAR is an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories. Each OpenDOAR repository has been visited by project staff to check the information that is recorded here. This in-depth approach does not rely on automated analysis and gives a quality-controlled list of repositories.
  • Other resources/factors to consider:
    • transparent publishing practices and editorial control;
    • the publisher is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);  Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA); and/or the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME);
    • articles have DOIs

Here are some leading indicators of predatory journals [Source: https://predatoryjournals.com/about/]:

  • Charging exorbitant rates for publication of articles in conjunction with a lack of peer-review or editorial oversight.
  • Notifying authors of fees only after acceptance.
  • Targeting scholars through mass-email spamming in attempts to get them to publish or serve on editorial boards.
  • Quick acceptance of low-quality papers, including hoax papers.
  • Listing scholars as members of editorial boards without their permission or not allowing them to resign.
  • Listing fake scholars as members of editorial boards or authors.
  • Copying the visual design and language of the marketing materials and websites of legitimate, established journals.
  • Fraudulent or improper use of ISSNs.
  • Giving false information about the location of the publishing operation.
  • Fake, non-existent, or misrepresented impact factors.
  • Beall's List (of questionable scholarly open- access journals) http://beallslist.weebly.com 

 

OA Repositories

What's the difference between Open Access resources and Open Educational Resources (OERs)?

Open Access is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles combined with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Open Access is the needed modern update for the communication of research that fully utilizes the Internet for what it was originally built to do—accelerate research [Source: https://sparcopen.org/open-access/] 

In contrast, OERs (Open Educational Resources) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes.[Source: https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/What_is_OER%3F]

 

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Open Educational Resources are "any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation."

infographic providing details on benefits of OER materials

ORCIDs

ORCID is a nonprofit organization helping create a world in which all who participate in research, scholarship and innovation are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions and affiliations, across disciplines, borders, and time.

Your ​ORCID number provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized.  

To get an ORCID ID, Go to https://orcid.org/

  1. Click  Register Now! In Step 1  
  2. Enter your info:
  • Last Name
  • First Name
  • Email
  • Password
  • Select visibility setting
  • Select notifications
  • Accept Terms of Use
  1. Use your ORCID to help build your Professional Brand:
  • add information to your profile and build your professional "brand"
  • use your ORCID ID to promote and communicate  your body of scholarly work to other researchers
  • add your ORCID to your email signature or web page

Update Your CV

 

If you haven't updated your CV within the year, then it is time to do it! Often, we only update our CVs when applying for jobs or going up for an award or promotion. The downside of this approach is that we often forget noteworthy accomplishments over time. 

Refreshing your CV allows you to:

  • Act quickly on job positions, as well as grant & professional development opportunities.
  • Take stock of your career trajectory and identify gaps in your research, teaching, and professional experiences.
  • Re-write your CV for the positions you want or consider having multiple CVs to suit different purposes.
  • Keep an up-to-date online profile (for example, on LinkedIn ) so that potential collaborators may find you.
  • Highlight your most important achievements and record your most recent activities that you may forget later.

Follow the steps to keep your CV up-to-date and ready to go!

1. Update Your Personal Contact & Education Information

2. Decide on a Structure: Identify Headings and Heading Order

3. Update the Information under Each Heading 

4. Proofread for Consistency and Errors

 

Defining Scholarly Communication

 

 

John B. Coleman Library
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 519, MS 1040, Prairie View, Texas 77446
Physical Address: L.W. Minor St. / University Drive, Prairie View, Texas 77446
Reference: (936) 261-1535, Circulation: (936) 261-1542
Email: askalibrarian@pvamu.edu

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