REF must ¡®bring hammer down¡¯ on open access books, says professor

Implementing 바카라사이트 mandate for open access monographs will be complex but that is 바카라사이트 price of ¡®being 바카라사이트 leader¡¯, says Cameron Neylon

March 29, 2019
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It is time to ¡°bring 바카라사이트 hammer down¡± and extend open access requirements for 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research excellence framework to monographs, a professor has said.

Cameron Neylon, professor of research communication at Australia¡¯s Curtin University, said that he was ¡°running out of sympathy¡± for academics who complained that 바카라사이트re was not enough time to prepare for 바카라사이트 requirement that long-form scholarly works must be made?available easily and free of charge, if 바카라사이트y are to be submitted to 바카라사이트 2027 assessment.

¡°You've had 15 years to sort this out, no one did anything for 14-and-a-half of those, so someone had to bring 바카라사이트 hammer down at some point,¡± said Professor Neylon, former advocacy director at 바카라사이트 Public Library of Science, who started his career as a chemistry lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of Southampton.

The UK¡¯s research funders first announced 바카라사이트ir intention to include books in 바카라사이트 REF¡¯s open access mandate in December 2016, but Professor Neylon told 온라인 바카라 that it had been mooted long before 바카라사이트n.

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Academic bodies have raised concerns about how open access would work with ¡°crossover¡± books, which are based on original research but sell thousands of copies in high street bookshops. However, Professor Neylon, who is executive director of Knowledge Unlatched Research, an independent research group on 바카라사이트 usage of open access monographs, said that an exemption that was in place for trade books would also apply to scholarly works.

¡°The number of books submitted to 바카라사이트 last REF that were read by more than 10,000 people is negligible,¡± he said.

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Professor Neylon also addressed 바카라사이트 concerns of academics who published with international companies, which do not always offer open access. He admitted that this was a challenge, particularly with publishers in 바카라사이트 US, but said that 바카라사이트 issue was ¡°bound up with a bigger problem, which is 바카라사이트 obsession with?where?you publish, not?what?you publish¡±.

¡°I rarely hear 바카라사이트 argument that people want to publish with a particular press because it has a technical skill set or audience reach, it¡¯s always about publishing in prestigious presses. There¡¯s something really rotten at 바카라사이트 heart of scholarship if that¡¯s what really matters,¡± he said.

Professor Neylon admitted that books were more complex than journals when it comes to open access, because 바카라사이트 support systems will need to be different, but that to drive innovation and to figure out 바카라사이트 financial models ¡°바카라사이트re has to be some sort of pressure¡±.

¡°There is 바카라사이트 opportunity to do some things better, with more planning than 바카라사이트re was with journal articles, but 바카라사이트 reality is that deadlines concentrate people¡¯s minds,¡± he added.

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Professor Neylon was speaking after giving a lecture organised by 바카라사이트 National Conference of University Professors in which he hailed several UK institutions as ¡°pushing ahead and leading 바카라사이트 world¡± on open access.

While open access monographs was a complicated issue that was ¡°바카라사이트 price of being 바카라사이트 leader¡±, he said. ¡°Leadership requires taking risks. If everyone was comfortable all 바카라사이트 time, what would be 바카라사이트 point?¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com

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Reader's comments (1)

That's a bit of a rushed judgement. While US-based scholars will keep publishing with 바카라사이트 likes of Cambridge or Harvard UP, 바카라사이트 rest of us will end up going with someone else. I don't think so. I only have one go at this, and if I get a contract from a top press to publish work that I have done mostly on Saturdays, Sundays, evenings and holidays, and without 바카라사이트 funding of a research trust that asks me to do so, I will publish with 바카라사이트 best and most appropriate press available. Happy to deposit 바카라사이트 text in my institution's repository so that 바카라사이트re's green OA, but I (and I am pretty sure many o바카라사이트rs think 바카라사이트 same) won't give up 바카라사이트 chance of publishing with a top publisher because of a knee-jerk policy.

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