Home Blog Page 356

American Chemical Society extends new open access program designed to assist authors

ACS Publications, a leading scientific journal publisher and a Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), announced today a far-reaching expansion of its open access publishing options –– including a major new open access journal, more licensing choices for authors and a stimulus program to support authors who select ACS journals when seeking to publish their work open access. The programs will be featured at the annual Charleston Library Conference in Charleston, S.C.

“These bold, new and expanded open access programs from ACS reinforce our drive for sustainable universal access to the results of scientific research,” said Susan King, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Journals Publishing Group, ACS Publications.

“The successful migration from print to digital journals two decades ago has spawned one of the most fertile periods in scientific publishing, evidenced by the number and range of new publisher start-ups and also cross-publisher collaboration and innovation in the development of standards to facilitate access and scientific understanding. In keeping with our mission of service as a scientific membership society, ACS sees expansion of our open access policies as being responsive to the evolution of global scientific communication,” King said.

ACS Publications recently appointed Kevin Davies, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development and Publisher, Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), to lead the development of its new open access initiatives. Prior to joining ACS, Davies served as Editor-in-Chief of Bio-IT World, was former Editor-in-Chief of Cell Press and first established Nature Genetics, serving as its Founding Editor.

The four major components of the Society’s expanded portfolio of open access options include the following:

ACS Central Science
In the coming year, ACS will introduce a new, open access, peer-reviewed journal, ACS Central Science. The journal will be the first highly selective, society-published, pure open access journal to cover the breadth of chemistry and its interfaces with research across the natural and physical sciences. It will be led by a renowned scientist and an international editorial board, with peer review overseen by active research scientists representative of the journal’s disciplinary and geographic diversity.

ACS Central Science will be the ACS’ first completely open access journal. All original research articles will be made freely available online immediately upon publication and without article publishing charges levied on authors. The journal will feature exceptional multidisciplinary research from across the broad spectrum of the chemical sciences, including chemistry and chemical engineering, life sciences and biomedicine, physics and materials science, and computational science and engineering. In addition, the journal will harness the established capabilities of ACS’ C&EN magazine editorial team and invited thought leaders for expanded analysis and commentary on global trends in science research and development, technology, education and policy.

ACS Editors’ Choice
ACS Editors’ Choice is a new service designed to feature highly innovative research of broad public interest, and to make this material widely accessible. Starting January 2014, drawing on timely recommendations from the more than 400 editors of ACS’ over 40 peer-reviewed journals, who are themselves active researchers, ACS will select and openly feature one new article per day to highlight the newly published work of an author and research team that exemplifies the Society’s commitment to improving people’s lives through the transforming power of chemistry.

Articles featured in the ACS Editors’ Choice program will be open access immediately upon publication in the respective journal issue, and these selected articles will remain open for all to access and read. There will be no access charges or article publishing charges for articles selected by the ACS Editors’ Choice program.

ACS Author Rewards
Recognizing that research communities may require time to fund and transition to new open access publishing models, in 2014 ACS will sponsor a direct-to-author open access stimulus program, ACS Author Rewards. Each article published in ACS journals during 2014 will qualify the corresponding author for ACS Author Rewards article credit. Credits issued under this program, at a total value of $1,500 per publication, may be used to offset article publishing charges and any ACS open access publishing services of the author’s choosing, and will be redeemable over the next three years (2015-2017).

Given the nearly 40,000 articles that are published across the Society’s portfolio of journals annually, this stimulus program will present the research community with a potential savings of $60 million.

Expanded ACS AuthorChoice
ACS Publications offers its authors an easy and cost-effective route to open access through its ACS AuthorChoice program. Beginning in 2014, authors or their funding sponsors who elect this fee-based option may select from an expanded menu of licensing options to enable the final published article to be openly discoverable and available to readers worldwide, both from the ACS website and other institutional repositories of the author’s choosing. ACS AuthorChoice has been updated to allow authors to choose between immediate or 12-month delayed open access of the final published article of record, depending on their preference and funder requirements. ACS AuthorChoice options provide progressive discounts based on membership in the ACS and the institutional subscriber affiliation of the Corresponding Author. Authors also now may elect to fund publication under the terms of either a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) or Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works (CC-BY-NC-ND) license.

In addition, authors who participate in ACS AuthorChoice will benefit from the security and convenience of the new ACS Certified Deposit program. Under this program, ACS will manage the required deposit of the final published article to funder, institutional or governmental repositories as directed by the author and will maintain records to certify compliance with such mandates.

“Together with the ACS Author Rewards stimulus program, these expanded ACS AuthorChoice options underscore our Society’s commitment to working together with our authors and both their funding agencies and employing institutions to facilitate sustainable publishing models that can provide open access as a complement to the widespread access now in place through institutional subscription licensing,” said Brian Crawford, Ph.D., President, ACS Publications. “The comprehensive open access initiative we are announcing today enables ACS to offer a spectrum of sustainable, customizable options to meet the diverse needs of the scientific and scholarly communities we serve. We are delighted to have Dr. Kevin Davies, an experienced scientific editor and publisher — as well as notable author — at the helm as the ACS charts a new course for open access publishing in chemistry. ”

Additional details on these ACS open access initiatives can be found at www.acsopenaccess.org.

OCLC and ProQuest work together to automate e-book collection management

A new collaboration between OCLC and ProQuest automates the process to keep e-book holdings from ebrary and EBL – Ebook Library up to date in WorldCat and library catalogs and offers current links to library users for easy access to those titles. The initiative builds on OCLC’s work with ProQuest’s e-book businesses to support Demand-driven Acquisition (DDA) workflow and e-book access.

Libraries can now request that ebrary and EBL provide OCLC with holdings data for purchased collections and DDA repositories. The data will be loaded into the WorldCat knowledge base, which combines information about a library’s electronic resources with linking features that enable access to the content. E-book holdings and access will be automatically kept up to date for OCLC cataloging libraries, without the need for library staff to manually intervene.

“OCLC is working with partners like ProQuest to automate as many steps as possible in the supply chain to help reduce the burden on librarians to keep e-resource information current,” said Chip Nilges, OCLC Vice President, Business Development. “This automated process is designed to remove the difficult and time-consuming task of cataloging and maintaining holdings information to keep records of e-book collections and links up to date. This work at the supply chain level will result in fast, easy and reliable access to these e-collections for library users.”

“This relationship with OCLC hits the high points of ProQuest’s goals for our combined e-book business: seamless access and supported workflow,” said Kathy Masnik, ProQuest Vice President of Product Management, Ebooks. Masnik is leading ProQuest’s integration of ebrary and EBL, which will build a joint e-book platform, streamlining libraries’ current systems and processes for added value. “We’re delighted to partner in the debut of an important step forward in streamlining the work surrounding e-books.”

Libraries interested in implementing this new program should contact ebrary and EBL customer support with their OCLC symbol at support@ebrary.com and support@eblib.com.

Palgrave Macmillan launches the first reference work in strategic management online

Palgrave Macmillan is pleased to announce the launch of The Palgrave Encyclopaedia for Strategic Management, the first reference work in its field.

With over 700 individually commissioned entries, written by leading academics, practitioners and emerging stars, The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Strategic Management will provide a long awaited, rich and comprehensive overview of the emerging discipline.

The collection, available on Palgrave Connect, will be added to online every month, as new content is commissioned and written.

Co-Editor David Teece said: “Strategic management is now taught and researched at leading business schools worldwide, but it is still an emerging field with loosely defined concepts and boundaries, sometimes disputed core definitions, multidisciplinary intellectual foundations, and rich applications. Our inspiration for The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Strategic Management was a desire to help shape the field and its literature, bring attention to emerging issues, achieve convergence in core definitions where possible, and highlight the contributions of leading scholars.  We believe the encyclopaedia will help make the field more accessible to academics and practitioners around the world.”

For more information, visit www.palgraveconnect.com/esm.

Qatar residents gain access to Springer’s eBooks and online journals

Springer and the Qatar National Library (QNL) have signed a groundbreaking agreement for access to eBooks and electronic journals on Springer’s platform SpringerLink. The national license entitles Qatar to use one of the largest scientific, technical and medical eBook collections in the world.

Dr. Claudia Lux, Project Director of Qatar National Library, said, “Qatar National Library’s approach is truly different. We have managed to open a library digitally first, while other national libraries have been doing it the other way round. We consider that access of knowledge is very important for the business in the region and for the entire community and we are glad to expand our service offerings by partnering with Springer to offer everyone in Qatar full access to Springer’s electronic scientific content. An agreement with Springer, the leading global scientific, technical and medical publisher, will enable people to unlock their scientific potential and develop the skills that will support their participation in the global knowledge economy.”

“Springer is very pleased to partner with the Qatar National Library. This agreement will provide valuable information to all residents of the country. Our publishing portfolio provides cutting-edge research results, and we are proud to be part of Qatar’s efforts to set up an unparalleled knowledge economy,” said Derk Haank, CEO of Springer. “We are cooperating closely with academic institutions in the country and are convinced that our content will help Qatar achieve its vision of progress and growth.”

The agreement offers country-wide access to Springer’s electronic scientific content. Anyone who lives in Qatar and has a valid Qatari ID or residence permit is eligible to register at the library free of charge. In this way, all registered members of the library will benefit from the national license without any limitations on user classifications.

QNL, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, is currently offering free online access to a vast collection of online resources, including the latest bestsellers, classical works, concerts, top academic journals and documentaries.

SAGE to publish Theological Studies from March 2014

SAGE is delighted to announce that it has been selected to publish one of the world’s premier theology journals, Theological Studies, from March 2014.  

Founded and sponsored by the Society of Jesus in the United States of AmericaTheological Studies is a Catholic scholarly journal that serves the Church and its mission by promoting a deeper understanding of the Christian faith through the publication of research in theological disciplines. Through referred articles and reviews of noteworthy books, the journal aims to recover and to help make accessible the riches of the theological tradition and to present significant developments in current theology.  It is published quarterly in English for an international readership, and has been in continuous publication since 1940.

“We have developed a leading portfolio in Theological and Biblical Studies through the close relationships that we have built over time,” remarked Karen Phillips, Editorial Director, SAGE. “To have been chosen to publish one of the world’s foremost theological journals is a testament to the strengths and insight that SAGE has developed in this important field of scholarship. For many decades, Theological Studies has published significant, current and thought provoking research to promote scholarship, fellowship and cooperation in the theological community and beyond. In a changing and increasingly competitive journals environment, we will help this highly prestigious title to build its readership, exposure and impact even further on an international stage by offering the very best in technological and strategic support.”

“Both the editorial team at Theological Studies and The Society of Jesus in the United States are delighted to be working with SAGE, not only to build on the success of our journal, but to also build a partnership that will enable us to benefit from SAGE’s international reach and growing strength publishing first-rate research within our field,” commented David Schultenover, Editor. “We strongly believe that SAGE shares our commitment and passion for publishing high quality and significant research that will help develop the field of theological studies. We are excited about the strengths that this new partnership will bring, and look forward to developing a successful future with SAGE.”

The first SAGE issue of Theological Studies will publish in March 2014, and will appear quarterly thereafter. The journal will be published on the SAGE Journals platform at http://tsj.sagepub.com/.

Gale Launches Innovative Purchase Model for e-books

Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced an innovative new purchase option – a Usage-Driven Acquisition (UDA) model – for its Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) e-book platform. Unlike options currently offered by other e-book providers, this new purchase model will allow libraries to purchase e-books based on actual usage, allowing libraries to perform evidence-based collection development. GVRL delivers reference content and series non-fiction titles to all types of libraries.

“The nature of e-book acquisition has changed considerably over the years and we have explored a number of models with customers in the past which have led us to today’s announcement,” said Nader Qaimari, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Gale. “We want to expose more customers to the great learning and research opportunities offered by GVRL, and introducing this unique purchase model allows our customers to experience the platform with little risk and also enables them to make smart purchasing decisions that they can feel comfortable are meeting the direct needs of their user base.”

Customers interested in the UDA model will make an upfront deposit (minimums apply) and will get complete access to the full line of Gale and Gale imprint e-titles, roughly 2,000 titles, for six months. At the end of the six month period, e-books with the greatest usage will be automatically added permanently to the library’s GVRL collection and deducted from the library’s initial deposit. As with GVRL’s traditional purchase model, once an e-book is purchased, libraries have unlimited, simultaneous use of the title. Gale is also working directly with third party publishers to incorporate their titles into this program.

Named “Best Overall Database” by the readers of Library Journal magazine in 2012, GVRL offers user-friendly features such as an interface available in more than 30 languages, ReadSpeaker technology (text-to-speech functionality) for 19 languages, article translation capability, a multi-page viewer for a traditional book-like experience, and the ability to download articles as PDFs to ereaders or MP3 players for offline access. Gale also offers free promotional help including advertising and search tools for embedding within the library website, MARC records and other customizable marketing resources.

SAGE partners with Japanese publishers Shinyosha to co-publish social science textbooks

SAGE, one of the world’s leading publishers of the social sciences, today announced a partnership with local Japanese publisher Shinyosha to co-publish social science textbooks in the Japanese language. With the increasing growth and demand for social science texts in Japan, this partnership will help support students with better access to key research material by providing it in the local language.

SAGE and Shinyosha will co-publish a range of social science texts from leading authors and researchers. Starting with undergraduate and postgraduate texts in the field of research methods, in particular the SAGE Qualitative Research Kit, the partnership will extend out to also work on texts within the wider social science disciplines. In addition to traditional print translations, SAGE and Shinyosha hope also to work together on investigations into developments over time for the eBook market also.

“A core part of SAGE’s publishing mission is our commitment to enabling access to high quality educational material. Since establishing a presence in the Asia Pacific region in 2006, SAGE has made a significant impact in various countries through new publishing partnership which have helped support local access to research. Over the past few years we have seen a rapid increase in the interest in social science material in Japan, however, the language barrier is often a challenge for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in being able to access content,” remarked Paul Evans Managing Director,  SAGE, Asia Pacific. “To this end we are therefore delighted to be partnering with Shinyosha to help enable better access to social science research within the local market. Shinyosha has established a strong reputation for high quality publishing and was a publisher with whom we have found great similarities in our company values and approach to publishing. We are very much looking forward to working with their strong editorial team and to establishing a long prosperous relationship.”

Akira Shioura, President, Shinyosha further commented, “We are delighted to be working with one of the leading social science publishers to co-publish some of the world’s core social science texts in our local language.  We have found in SAGE an excellent partner, closely aligned to our company values and with both our traditional and developing digital publishing goals. As demand for social science materials continues to grow, this is an exciting opportunity for the next phase in both of our company developments.”

Rave Technologies Organises SPEC 2013; Focusing on STM Publishing

Rave Technologies is organising Software Product Engineering Conference (SPEC) 2013 on 19th November 2013 in London, UK. The theme of the event is ‘Technology Innovation in STM Publishing’.

The day focuses on the challenges faced by STM Publishers owing to change in the technology landscape. The full-day event is scheduled on Tuesday, 19th November and provides a platform for publishers to discuss their challenges, innovative solutions and opens a forum for discussion.

To register your interest for the event, please fill in your details at http://rave-tech.com/spec2013/#register

Rave’s SPEC 2013 is a forum to discuss issues, deliberate and share the Information Technology Strategy to be harnessed Today, keeping an eye on Tomorrow. It is forum to deliberate how leading companies are addressing technology challenges in a fast changing landscape in various industries. SPEC looks at technology and the role technology plays in shaping or accelerating innovation, the challenges organizations face as they confront emerging technologies and the business models that organizations adopt to address technology, innovation and emerging markets.

About SPEC 2013

Software Product Engineering Conference (SPEC) is an annual event focusing addressing technology challenges in a fast changing landscape in various industries. For more information, visit our website http://rave-tech.com/spec2013/.

Kingston University Library Selects Ex Libris Alma

Ex Libris® Group, a world leader in the provision of library automation solutions, is pleased to announce that Kingston University has chosen Alma as their next generation, unified resource management solution. Having opted for a complete suite of fully cloud-based Ex Libris products two years ago—the Primo® discovery and delivery solution, the SFX® link resolver, and the Aleph® integrated library system—Kingston saw Alma as the next step in their plan to modernize the library in support of the university’s academic and strategic objectives.

“The prospect of working with Alma was very appealing in 2011 when we made the decision to adopt Ex Libris cloud solutions,” commented Elizabeth Malone, Co-Director of Library and Learning Services at Kingston University. “Now that Alma is successfully running in dozens of libraries, we are excited to be joining the growing European Alma community. Alma will provide our library with efficient, unified workflows across all our collections. These automated workflows will help to us to fulfill and anticipate both current and future requirements by streamlining our processes, thereby enabling our staff to spend more of their valuable time on student-focused activities. Additionally, Alma Analytics will enable us to better understand students’ use of information resources and therefore ensure they receive the best possible service from the library.”

Christoph Frech, Regional Sales Director at Ex Libris, commented: “Kingston University signaled their support for our Alma vision over two years ago when they chose to migrate from Talis to Aleph. Now that Alma is live, it is the obvious next step for them to take. The fact that all their applications are already hosted in the Ex Libris cloud environment will make the transition to Alma even quicker and smoother.”

Serials Solutions to Index Mybrary.ru in the Summon Service

Serials Solutions, a ProQuest business, is working with Mybrary.ru to make its electronic library of Russian-language content discoverable in the Summon service. With the inclusion metadata covering subjects of law, economics and business collections from Mybrary.ru in the Summon index, researchers will now be able to discover a large number of periodical and non-periodical publications, articles, theses and other educational and non-fiction literature alongside their library’s other resources.

Russian aggregator Mybrary.ru offers access to a growing collection of over 2,000 books and journals. These electronic publications are consistently updated, enabling researchers to gather the most relevant information for their projects.

Serials Solutions continues to fulfill its commitment to make the most comprehensive discovery service for researchers around the world with the addition of Mybrary.ru content to the Summon service. With an interface available in 32 languages and dialects, the Summon service makes global content discoverable by scholars worldwide. It applies native-language searching capabilities and language-tuned relevance ranking for 17 languages.

Used by more than 600 libraries in more than 40 countries, the Summon discovery service is proven to increase usage of library resources across a library’s collection without bias to format, vendor, or platform. With the introduction of Summon® 2.0 – groundbreaking features and a new, modern interface – the Summon service continues to deliver on its mission to return researchers to the library by providing a user experience that resonates with users familiar with open web search engines. Streamlined navigation and contextual guidance features significantly advance the research experience and provide greater opportunities for librarians to deliver value and scale their services to connect with more users.

Healthcare Leadership Forum Examines Implementation of Evidence-Based Medicine in Daily Clinical Practice

This year’s Healthcare Leadership Forum, hosted by Clinical Innovation + Technology and sponsored by Elsevier’s ClinicalKey, will bring together clinical and IT leaders Nov. 14-15 in Chicago to learn about best practices for integrating evidence into clinical practice to enable more efficient, high-quality healthcare delivery.

“Evidence at the Center of Care” features keynote speakers John D. Halamka, MD, MS, CIO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger, Co-Chairman, EEA Young Eagles, in addition to many other exciting presenters. This two-day interactive leadership forum on the role of evidence-based medicine (EBM) will explore topics such as patient safety and satisfaction, EHR implementation and adoption, clinical decision support, current and future EBM standards, and meaningful use.

“Continued advancement of our knowledge and experiences in evidence-based medicine is required if we are to have a meaningful impact on patient care,” said Dr. Edward Shortliffe, Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Arizona State University and conference co-chair. “The Healthcare Leadership Forum is the ideal environment to examine both current and future best practices in evidence-based care and their implications for improvements to the healthcare system overall.”

Sponsored by Elsevier’s ClinicalKey, Elsevier’s clinical insight engine, the Healthcare Leadership Forum is designed to foster innovation in EBM and promote sharing of best practices. It provides a symposium for physician and clinical leaders, C-suite executives, researchers and opinion leaders to learn, discuss, exchange information and network.

“With a longstanding commitment to EBM, Elsevier is proud to continue its work with Clinical Innovation + Technology to advance the discussion of this important topic,” said Jay Katzen, President, Clinical Solutions, Elsevier.

Other influential speakers at the forum include:

Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety and Value, Department of Veterans Affairs, and former director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Edward Shortliffe, MD, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Arizona State University; Scholar in Residence, New York Academy of Medicine; Adjunct Professor, Columbia University
Mark Roberts, MD, MPP, Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy & Management, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
David Classen, MD, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer, Pascal Metrics
Vimla Patel, MD, Senior Research Scientist at the New York Academy of Medicine; Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Arizona State University; Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University
David Meltzer, MD, Associate Professor, Harris School, University of Chicago
David Bates, MD, MSc, Senior Vice President for Quality and Safety, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Howard C. Bauchner, MD, Editor-in-Chief, JAMA; Professor, Boston University School of Medicine
George Hripcsak, MD, MS, Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University
The Healthcare Leadership Forum is designed for the education and enrichment of Chief Medical Officers, Chief Medical Information/Informatics Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Nursing Officers, Chief Quality Officers, Vice Presidents of Clinical Informatics, Vice Presidents and Directors of Information Systems, Clinical Informaticists and clinical department chiefs.

For more information on attending this informative and exciting event, please visit http://www.healthcareleadershipforum.net/. Media who wish to attend should contact Kate Ottavio at KNB Communications.

EMBO Press to Launch on the HighWire Open Platform

EMBO and HighWire are pleased to announce the December launch of EMBO Press, a new publishing platform for The EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports, Molecular Systems Biology and EMBO Molecular Medicine, providing opportunities for the future development of the journals.

EMBO Press will strengthen the policies of the EMBO journals to encourage transparency in the publication process and help researchers make better use of scientific data. In addition, all four journals are being redesigned to maximize online functionality and access.

The announcement coincides with a new partnership with HighWire and an expanded publishing agreement with Wiley that come into immediate effect. Wiley has published EMBO Molecular Medicine since 2009. As one of the world’s leading publishers of academic content, it will provide invaluable support for editorial production and international marketing of the four EMBO scientific journals.

HighWire is at the forefront of digital scholarly publishing. Many leading journals in the life sciences rely on its community-based strengths and its track record for technological support and innovation, including access to third party developers.

“We welcome our publishing partners to support EMBO Press and appreciate the strengths they will bring for the key global markets of our journals, including the United States and Asia Pacific,” said Bernd Pulverer, Head of Scientific Publications at EMBO. “Our individual journals already have strong recognition for quality in the scientific community established over 30 years since the launch of The EMBO Journal and our mandate is to serve the scientific community. EMBO Press will allow us to provide the independence we need to ensure that the EMBO Press portfolio of journals stay at the forefront of technological advances and delivers the best possible service to the research community. In particular, it will allow EMBO to continue our commitment to the principles of transparent, fast and fair publication in the life sciences while maintaining our reputation for selectivity and quality.”

EMBO Press will include enhanced options for publishing source data, and rendering the data presented in figures more usable and discoverable. Researchers will be able to customize and optimize their reader experience. Restructuring the way papers are presented will obviate the need for a separate supplementary information section.

“Many exciting developments lie ahead in publishing and we want to have a platform that supports technological responsiveness and high-level support,” added Pulverer. “Access to the Drupal tools integrated into the HighWire Press Open Platform creates new possibilities for innovation in areas like data presentation, semantic interlinking, article level metrics and mobile web interfaces. There will be many exciting technological developments in the future and we want our authors and readers to be in a position to benefit.”

“It is a very exciting time for EMBO Press,” said Tom Rump, HIghWire’s Managing Director. “We are pleased to help advance the discoverability of high quality research in the field of molecular biology in partnership with the EMBO team.”