Nature Publishing Group (NPG) today is pleased to announce the Spring 2014 launch of Scientific Data. Open for submissions this autumn, Scientific Data is a new open-access, online-only platform for the publication of descriptions of scientifically valuable datasets. Scientific Data will initially focus on experimental datasets from the life, biomedical and environmental science communities with future plans to expand to other fields in the natural sciences.

Scientific Data will introduce and publish a new type of content called Data Descriptors: peer-reviewed, scientific publications that provide detailed descriptions of experimental and observational datasets. Data Descriptors will be a combination of traditional scientific publication content and structured information curated in-house, and are designed to maximize reuse and enable searching, linking and data mining. Data Descriptors may be associated with articles from a broad range of journals.

“Over recent years researchers, funders and learned societies alike have been calling for new ways to make scientific research, and research data, more available, reusable and reproducible,” says Jason Wilde, Nature Publishing Group Business Development Director. “Scientific Data’s central mission is to help foster the sharing and re-use of the data underpinning scientific research.”

“Scientific Data will allow for the formal peer-review, publication and citation of data sets and will provide a real opportunity to promote open data and promote the re-use of data held by NERC and other research organisations,” says Mark Thorley, Head of Science Information at the Natural Environment Research Council and Chair of the Research Councils UK Research Outputs Network.

Scientific Data gives credit through a citable publication, for depositing and sharing research data. Data Description will be accessible and searchable via the Scientific Data online data platform, under a Creative Commons license. The actual data files will be stored in one or more public, community-recognized systems. The full release of Data Description and associated data will be verified as part of the peer-review process. Where a community recognized repository does not exist, Scientific Data supports the deposit of the data into a more general repository such as Dryad and Figshare. All accepted data descriptors will be published on payment of an article-processing charge (APC) that will also cover the Data Description curation process.

Susanna-Assunta Sansone, Associate Director and Principal Investigator at the University of Oxford e-Research Centre, has worked with the NPG team for the past months to define the Data Description’s concept; she has now been appointed Honorary Academic Editor of Scientific Data. She will work closely with the Advisory Panel which is comprised of senior scientists, data repository representatives, bio-curators, librarians, and funders who guide the policies, standards, and editorial scope.

“The ongoing conversation around data curation, sharing and publication has become increasingly exciting as various organisations have moved to encourage and in some cases support the sharing and reuse of data in context,” says Honorary Academic Editor Sansone. “To inform the internal development of Scientific Data, I will continue to stay abreast of the fast-paced fields of data management and scholarly communication.”

The Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) Board has appointed Mark Bide to be its independent Chair with effect from 1 June 2013.  Mark is currently PLS’ Head of Business Development, having previously served as a consultant to PLS for over 15 years since the mid-1990s. He is a well-known and respected figure in the publishing industry which he has served in many different capacities over 40 years. Mark’s strategic approach to the management of rights and publishing in the digital environment is just one of the many strengths which equip him very well to chair PLS at this exciting point in its history.

PLS’ outgoing Chair, Mark Millar, is stepping down at the end of his term, having taken up a new and demanding role outside publishing. Mark Millar has served on the PLS Board for the last five years,and as Chair for the last three, during which time he made an invaluable contribution to PLS.

Mark Millar said:

“My Chairmanship of PLS coincided with a time of great change in the industry, as well as in the strategic direction of PLS, and has proved to be both challenging and enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed working with Sarah Faulder and the PLS staff and wish them all the best for the future.  I am delighted to be succeeded by Mark Bide, whose skills and experience will help support the team with the exciting new rights management services for publishers that PLS is developing.”

Sarah Faulder, Chief Executive of PLS, commented:

“PLS has had some interesting challenges to deal with over the last couple of years and I have enjoyed working through these with Mark Millar. Mark has been immensely supportive and positive throughout and I shall miss him. PLS is very fortunate that Mark Bide is willing to take on the chairmanship and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role, both on the exciting developments in which he has been very instrumental and in taking PLS forward.”

Mark Bide said about his new role:

“I am delighted and flattered that the Board of PLS has entrusted this position to me at a time when copyright is so high on everyone’s agenda, and when collective management and collective administration are so much in the spotlight. This is the culmination of a working relationship that goes back more than 15 years, and I am greatly looking forward to tackling the challenges that we face.”

Mark Millar was one of the PPA representatives on the Board and we are delighted that Jim James of Haymarket Media Group has agreed to replace Mark on the PLS Board in this capacity.

Region’s universities embrace access to more than 170 years of scientific publishing.

By the end of 2013, Springer will offer online access to 100,000 eBooks with historic content through its Springer Book Archives (SBA), available anywhere, at any time, via SpringerLink (link.springer.com). As early adopters, Australasian universities were some of the first to offer access to this wealth of scientific content to students, faculty and researchers. Official launch events for the SBA will be held at the University of Melbourne on 5 April 2013, and at The Higher Education Technology Agenda Conference in Hobart, Australia on 8 April.

“The Springer Book Archives marks the culmination of years of planning, scanning and converting our historic titles to a digital format,” said Derk Haank, Springer’s CEO. “Our vision is to change the economics of the books business. We’re harnessing digital technologies to both deliver the best possible service to customers, and improve supply-chain efficiencies. And by offering tens of thousands of books available online for the first time, we are making ‘out of print’ a thing of the past for Springer titles.”

An undertaking of this magnitude involved thousands of hours to carefully scan each historic title, clean up any markings or imperfections, convert illustrations into high-resolution digital images, make the content discoverable and offer it to users in convenient formats. The end result of these efforts is an unprecedented collection of historic, scholarly eBooks, available DRM-free with full text searchability, and optimized for any device. Springer is also bringing titles unavailable in print for decades, if not longer, back to bookshelves by offering a print-on-demand option.

Rudolf Diesel, Paul Ehrlich and Emil Fischer are among the notable names who will appear in the SBA. Works of many Nobel Laureates are  among the titles offered, including those of a number of Australian luminaries.

The University of Melbourne, Australia’s highest ranking university, became the first institution in the southern hemisphere to purchase the SBA in November 2012, ahead of its official launch in January 2013.   The University of Auckland, La Trobe University and The University of South Australia all subsequently purchased the SBA ahead of its official launch, and numerous other institutions are in discussions to acquire it.

University of Melbourne Librarian Philip Kent said, “We have been aware of the project since 2010 and have been monitoring developments since.  The University has invested in this historic content, that includes works from scholars such as Einstein, because it paves the way for future research outcomes.”

“The progressive attitude of Australasian academic libraries towards electronic information resources, and the solutions that the SBA provides, are both major factors in the level of interest in the region,” said James Mercer, Sales Director South East Asia and Oceania for Springer. “The SBA is helping these libraries to provide spaces that are conducive to learning, and access to quality information in a format and medium that their clients use.”

Beth Mayes has been appointed as Partner Development Manager, North America for IOP Publishing (IOP).

Based in Boston, Beth will develop relationships with organisations in North America. She has over ten years’ publishing industry experience in a broad range of areas from product development to marketing and sales.

She co-founded Dublin Six, Inc., a consultancy, specialising in providing technical services and products to electronic publishers and digital libraries. Prior to this role, Beth worked for Springer Science & Business Media as Director of Development, eProduct Development & Innovation. She has a Bachelor of Science in Education.

Beth will be working closely with Jane Roscoe, Head of Partner Development at IOP. Jane said of Beth’s appointment: “Beth has extensive industry experience, a strong work ethic and an ability to quickly build and maintain close business relationships. It is great to have her on board.”