Government invests £10 million to help universities move to open access

September 7, 2012

A £10 million Government investment announced today by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts will help universities with the transition to open access to publicly-funded research findings.

The investment will enable a number of research-intensive UK institutions to kick-start the process of developing policies and setting up funds to meet the costs of article processing charges (APCs). This is in line with the recommendations of the Finch report on open access, published in June.

Speaking at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen, David Willetts said:

“Removing paywalls surrounding publicly-funded research findings is a key commitment for this Government and will have real economic and social benefits.

“This extra £10 million investment will help some of our universities move across to the open access model. This will usher in a new era of academic discovery and keep the UK at the forefront of research to drive innovation and growth.”

The investment will be made to 30 institutions receiving funding through Research Councils and UK higher education funding councils. It is in addition to the contribution RCUK will be making to institutions to support payment of APCs associated with open access through block funding grants from 1 April 2013 onwards. More details of this will be announced in the autumn.

The UK Funding Councils will launch a consultation this autumn on implementing a requirement that research outputs submitted to any future Research Excellence Framework (REF) should be as widely accessible as possible.

Professor Douglas Kell, RCUK Champion for Research and Information Management, welcomed the announcement, commenting:

“We are delighted that BIS is providing additional funding to a number of universities to assist in their transition to full open access, helping them to set up and manage their funds for research publications. This underpins the work of RCUK and other research funders in providing full access to ground-breaking research that can contribute to both the economic growth and the social wellbeing of the UK and beyond.”

David Sweeney, Director (Research, Innovation and Skills) at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), said:

“We welcome this allocation, which will help establish funds to support freely accessible research publications, and which underlines the principle of open access publication upon which our forthcoming consultation is based. We are delighted to be working with the Research Councils and other funders in this work to support research findings being more widely disseminated.”

The Government has already formally responded to the Finch report on open access and accepted the main recommendations. The details of how the measures detailed in the report should be developed are being worked on by funders in consultation with universities, research institutions, authors and publishers.

Next decade of e-infrastructure secured for UK research and education

September 7, 2012

UK researchers’ and educators’ demands for high performance computing are now secured until at least 2022, thanks to an initial £30m e-infrastructure investment from the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the higher and further education funding councils.

Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, says: “E-infrastructure, including high performance computing, is absolutely essential to our research base, whether it’s enabling scientists to carry out complex experiments or helping academics manage large amounts of data. This significant Government funding will be a real boost to our universities, colleges and schools and is part of a wider package of investment to ensure Britain’s e-infrastructure is truly world-class.”

The investment will build Janet6 the next generation of the UK’s national research and education network, adding value across the sector from high-end research to universities, colleges and schools. It will also enable research to stay competitive on both a national and international level, and support the £60bn contribution that higher education brings to the UK economy.

Tim Marshall, CEO of Janet, says: “We are delighted to be able to continue to deliver this fundamental platform for research and education. The move to a long-term fibre contract ensures that for the next decade we can provide maximum agility and scalability to meet customer demands, that will inevitably be unpredictable, as research and innovation takes place. The new operating model that we are embracing for Janet6 will allow us to do so very cost-effectively in these challenging times.”

Research shows that as institutions use innovative methods to deliver digital resources to their students, so their use of different devices over the network grows. The pattern of data across Janet shows that data usage doubles every 18 months and this is unlikely to change.

However, in addition to this normal usage increase, there will also be a ‘data deluge’ from data intensive research, which means that future network demands are set to increase. The high capacity network means that research in biomedical sciences, climate science and genomics can continue at current rates, even with the need for the transfer of large data sets, as well as high performance computing, that are needed for research and analysis in these subject areas.

Martyn Harrow, JISC Executive Secretary, explains, “JISC first started funding the Janet network in 1984 with 60 universities and the UK Research Councils. It now has over 18 million users across the UK and underpins the digital resources and activities across education and research. As an ex-director of information services and libraries I know how much colleges and universities depend on a robust and reliable network. Janet6 will provide network capacity from a starting point of two terabits per second and increasing over the next five years up to a staggering eight terabits per second or even more – placing the UK in an unrivalled position.”

A seamless transition to the new network, and a proactive approach to network provision where it’s needed, means that most customers should not see any disruption in service. The new network will continue to provide unseen yet essential support to the work of researchers and educators, enabling them to communicate easily and share large data sets across international boundaries.

The provider SSE Telecoms has been awarded the contract to provide the fibre for the Janet infrastructure in the largest UK deployment of its kind, this year. The Janet6 infrastructure will be based on Ciena’s platform, which will enable the network to easily scale from 100G to 400G and beyond as requirements change over time. Janet6 will be fully operational by October 2013.

Sir Alan Langlands, HEFCE chief executive, added: “Janet is a national asset of which the UK can be proud. As a vital part of our research infrastructure, the next version of the network will further improve links and collaboration between universities, strategic research organisations and others. It will not only add value to UK education and research organisations, but will underpin the contribution they make to the UK economy.”

Brian Gilmore, director of IT Infrastructure at The University of Edinburgh and a member of the Janet board, commented: “From experiences in my own university, and from colleagues across all parts of the education and research sector, I know that the provision of a network infrastructure which provides continuous reliability and has the capacity to cope with an ever increasing range of uses and amounts of data transfer is essential. Without it we cannot deliver all that the economy and our students require of us. It is vital that Janet continues to make sure that the most capable suppliers are providing the quality of service that research and education need.”

Janet6 has been developed in the context of the Government’s Public Services Network (PSN) programme, and as Janet6 unfolds, the Janet team will continue to work closely with the PSN programme to ensure maximum efficiency in public-sector ICT spend.

The Janet6 programme is aligned with, and co-funded by, the BIS e-infrastructure initiative. BIS investment in both the core Janet network and in extending Janet means that it can better serve additional data intensive research disciplines.

British Library welcomes Government response on Non-Print Legal Deposit regulations

September 7, 2012

The British Library welcomes the Government’s commitment to proceed with introducing the Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-print works) Regulations in April 2013. The statement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (5 September 2012) follows a public consultation which closed in May 2012.

Since the introduction of the 2003 Legal Deposit Libraries Act, the Legal Deposit Libraries have been working with the Government and publishers to secure the necessary regulations to collect material published digitally and on-line.

The Non-Print Legal Deposit regulations would empower the British Library to collect, store and preserve the nation’s memory in the digital age. To date, much of the country’s published heritage has been lost to a digital black hole with information and records of major events of the 21st century lost forever.

Phil Spence, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the British Library commented: “These regulations are absolutely critical to ensure the British Library continues to provide world-leading resources for researchers.

“With a growing proportion of information published digitally, as much as 75% of titles worldwide by 2020, we must be able to archive this material for the benefit of researchers in the future. The explosion of content published online means the web is fundamental to documenting life in the 21st Century.

“We will continue to work with Government, the Legal Deposit Libraries and publishers on the successful implementation of the regulations.”

A comprehensive archive of digital and non-printed materials, preserved for generations to come, will provide significant research benefits, enabling the creation of new knowledge, inspiring innovation and creating cultural and economic value for the UK.

EBSCO adds three new anthropology databases to EBSCOhost platform

September 7, 2012

EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) has added three new anthropology databases to the EBSCOhost® platform, the most-used for-fee electronic resource in libraries around the world. Formerly available via First Search from OCLC, the three databases: Anthropological Index™, Anthropological Literature™ and Anthropology Plus™, cover the fields of anthropology, archaeology and related interdisciplinary research.

Anthropological Index

Published by the Royal Anthropological Institute, Anthropological Index contains information from a broad geographical range, emphasizing the Commonwealth and Africa, and extending to Eastern Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. The database indexes periodicals covering the fields of physical anthropology, archaeology, cultural ethnography and linguistics.

Anthropological Literature

Anthropological Literature is published by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and indexes articles, reports, commentaries and obituaries found in nearly 700 journals and monographic series. Over 600,000 citations are included in this resource covering articles published from the early 19th century to the present, in more than 50 languages.Anthropological Literatureprovides comprehensive indexing for the fields of social and cultural anthropology, Old and New World archaeology, physical anthropology and anthropological aspects of related subjects, emphasizing Mesoamerican, Native American and Andean archaeology and ethnology.

Anthropology Plus

Anthropology Plus is a compilation of Anthropological Index and Anthropological Literature. This broad and rich resource provides extensive indexing of journal articles, reports, commentaries, edited works and obituaries in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological and linguistic anthropology, ethnology, archaeology, folklore, material culture, interdisciplinary studies, etc.

More information about EBSCO’s anthropology resources is available online at: http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/subjects/category/anthropology.

Elsevier Launches Program to Educate Young Researchers about the Importance of Research Integrity

September 7, 2012

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of a new Ethics in Research & Publication program, an initiative designed to help educate early career researchers on the importance of research integrity.

The Ethics in Research & Publication program has come about through a collaboration between Elsevier and an advisory panel of experts recognized for their deep understanding of current ethical issues surrounding research and publishing and the evolving approaches to solving them.

Distinguished panel members include Dr. David Rew, Medical Chair SCOPUS Content Selection and Advisory Board; Prof. Alexander T (Sandy) Florence, Editor in Chief, International Journal of Pharmaceutics; Ole G. Evensen Assistant Director, University of Bergen Library, Norway; and Prof. Margaret Rees, Secretary of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

“Research integrity should be put into the culture at all levels and educating young researchers is a significant advance,” commented Prof. Rees.

The program is inspired by real-world stories of researchers who have been the victims of misconduct. Researchers like Mary Kate Donais, Associate Professor of St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, who was once asked to review a manuscript and noticed the introductory paragraph was taken from her own grant proposal. “I wonder if that researcher was under pressure and decided to cut corners without thinking about the ethics behind it,” said Donais.

With the goal of addressing the growing incidence of publishing ethics issues, the program emphasizes the individual researcher’s contribution to advancing science through integrity and good ethical standards. At the same time the program also highlights the devastating impact misconduct can have on the science community as a whole, as well as on an individual researcher’s career.

“Ethical issues are a shared problem for all involved in research and publishing. With the Ethics in Research & Publication program, Elsevier tries to play its part in addressing the problem by teaching young researchers the rules and how to comply with them,” said Catriona Fennell, Director of Publishing Services, STM Journals at Elsevier. “Our existing services have focused on detection and resolution of ethical issues, while this new program focuses on preventing issues arising in the first place.”

For more information, go to: www.ethics.elsevier.com.

Utopia Documents 2.1 released, incorporating PLOS article-level metrics

September 7, 2012

Lost Island Labs Ltd has, in collaboration with Academic Concept Knowledge Ltd (AQnowledge), released an update of its Utopia Documents scientific semantic PDF-reader. Version 2.1 is now available to download from http://utopiadocs.com.

Utopia Documents is available for Mac, Windows and Linux, at no cost. Lost Island Labs and AQnowledge are committed to the continuous development of enrichment features for scientific literature, enabling readers to make the most from reading their journal articles. Utopia Documents’ features are unsurpassed. A notable addition to version 2.1 is the inclusion of article level metrics, up-to-date to the moment the PDF is opened with Utopia Documents, irrespective of when the PDF was downloaded or opened before.

This is implemented for PLOS articles, but is available upon request for the material of any publisher who wishes their up-to-date article level metrics to be displayed in the PDF versions of their articles. Also its algorithms for linking from articles to related information, including to scientific materials and methods, has undergone further improvement.

Constrained budgets will impact data centers as respondents strive to improve efficiency, says new IW Reports

September 6, 2012

InformationWeek Reports, a service provider for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report.2012 State of the Data Center encompasses analysis of results from InformationWeek’s recent State of the Data Center Survey and offers guidance on how far to drive virtualization and how to balance the benefits and drawbacks of standardizing on software and hardware. Of the 256 business technology professionals responding to this poll, 36% are from organizations with 5,000 or more employees.

Research Summary:

IT faces a delicate balancing act between standards and customization, efficiency and flexibility, and operational control versus outsourced convenience. And don’t forget the equipment. Hardware that packs more performance punch into every cubic inch has ratcheted up data center power and cooling demands to the point where simply renovating old facilities is often not an option, even as big construction projects are harder than ever to justify. These twin trends mean organizations may be forced to embrace the cloud or co-location despite any real or imagined downsides. This report examines these issues and more, and offers some tips for transforming data center strategies to meet changed conditions.

Findings:

73% of survey respondents say data center demands will increase compared to last year.
67% of IT budgets are spent on maintenance, with just 33% going to innovation.
50% say at least half of their servers will be virtualized by 2013.
57% cite cost savings as the most important metric to measure the success of server virtualization.

The report author, Kurt Marko, is editor at large for InformationWeek Reports and an IT industry veteran.

For full access to the research data, members can download now:http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/6/8845/Data-Center/research-2012-state-of-the-data-center.html?cid=rpt_press_rls

“Data centers must strike a balance between efficient operations and robust support for business applications,” says Andrew Conry-Murray, Editor at Large for InformationWeek Reports. “Our latest survey tells you how your IT peers are tackling this challenge, and offers practical insight to help you choose the right mix of premises gear, cloud offerings and colocation services.”

For more information:
Art Wittmann
VP & Managing Director, InformationWeek Reports
415-947-6361
awittmann@techweb.com

BioMed journals publish articles from ENCODE genomics project

September 6, 2012

The completion of the human genome project in 2003 was an immeasurably important milestone, but (like an book written in code) left many biologists wondering what the sequence might actually mean. Consequently, the focus of human genomics that year began the transition from generating sequence – to annotating the functional elements, hidden within the human genome’s 3.2 billion As, Cs, Gs and Ts. With this goal in mind the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) consortium was formed.

Some combinations of these nucleotides would together constitute the exons and introns that make up genes, while some would form regulatory elements. ENCODE set out to comprehensively annotate these elements in as much functional detail as possible which can now be found in the ENCODE explorer, a novel micro-site allowing seamless navigation between articles.

Following nearly ten years of data generation, the project’s findings have now been published as a series of over 30 articles in a ground-breaking, multi-publisher collaboration, between BioMed Central, Nature and Genome Research.

Genome Biology, one of BioMed Central’s flagship journals has published six articles from this project. A further article is published in BMC Genetics. These articles address important questions relating to regulatory elements, specifically how they are defined and how they correlate with gene expression. In particular, The GENCODE pseudogene resource one of the Genome Biology papers,
describes genes that have suffered a lethal number of mutations. but whose ‘fossil’ traces are still apparent in the genome. The article shows that some of these pseudogenes may still be functional, in some cases having been partially resurrected from gene death.

Professor Mark Gerstein, the lead author of two of these articles, explained, “Among the oddities turned up by the ENCODE project are pseudogenes – stretches of fossil DNA, evolutionary relics of the biological past. Moreover, the project’s data has shown that a number of pseudogenes may be active, not as protein-coding genes but as ncRNAs.”

BioMed Central has been publishing peer reviewed, open access journals for 12 years and now has a portfolio of 270 journals in science and medicine. All of the 30 ENCODE articles will be open access – meaning these articles will be freely accessible online for all and will be available as a collection on the micro-site ENCODE explorer, which is hosted by Nature and also through an iPad App.

Professor Ewan Birney, the head of the ENCODE consortium stated that, “The ENCODE consortium was very excited to work with Genome Biology, BMC Genetics and BioMed Central to make the details of our work widely available. By coordinating these publications and creating clear paths to the original data, and by ensuring that it is all open access, we have made these large-scale ENCODE resources truly transparent and accessible for the scientific community.”

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Announces Updates to Lippincott’s Professional Development Programs for Nurses

September 6, 2012

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced that it has completed several updates to Lippincott’s Professional Development Programs, a series of online continuing education solutions for nurses in hospitals and other health institutions. Two new categories of e-courses are now available including pediatrics and hospital-acquired diseases. In addition, five new nursing competency evaluations have been incorporated into the program.

Lippincott’s Professional Development Programs consist of evidence-based online courses organized into programs by key nursing specialties and topic areas. Each course is developed and designed to optimize nurses’ clinical performance. Many of these courses also focus on the professional conduct and soft skills of the nurses. For example, a course delineates on stuff like why motivation is imperative, effects of lack of confidence, employee empowerment, etc. In addition, nurses can improve their management and leadership skills with goals that include continuous improvement of patient outcomes and ongoing evaluation of nursing competence. Most programs consist of e-courses, which include case studies and/or tutorial modules delivered in easy-to-learn, interactive formats. Competency evaluations assess a nurse’s ability to think critically and analyze clinical situations.

The new Hospital-Acquired Conditions program consists of six new courses each addressing a single hospital-acquired condition. Also new is the Pediatric Nursing program, which has a total of 13 courses addressing pediatric diseases and conditions. Several existing e-courses also were reviewed and, as appropriate, updated to meet new guidelines including the 12-Lead ECG, ECG Rhythm Strip program, and the Preventing Ventilator-Assisted Pneumonia (VAP) course.

Competency Evaluation Expanded
In addition to new courses, five new competency evaluation modules were added which expand the program’s evaluation component to include seven programs and a total of 17 modules. These programs evaluate the knowledge, critical thinking and analytical ability of nursing staff. Designed for health care institutions, these evaluations assess nurses’ competency levels by providing online case study assessments that require knowledge of the latest evidence-based rationales. The new modules include:

ECG Rhythm Strip Interpretation
Basic Heart Sounds and Related Cardiac Conditions
Advanced Heart Sounds
Basic Breath Sounds and Related Respiratory Conditions
Advanced Breath Sounds
“These new pediatrics and hospital-acquired disease programs are helping us expand Lippincott’s Professional Development catalog to better meet the needs of today’s nurse and clinical educator,” said Judith McCann, MSN, RN, Chief Nurse, Professional & Education, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. “Our competency evaluation capabilities also are among the strongest in the industry and meet Lippincott’s stringent standards.”

Embedded Audio
In addition, competency evaluation module test questions have been updated to utilize embedded audio including heart sounds and breath sounds to provide a more complex and interactive testing environment. The new multimedia test questions, according to McCann, require a high level of critical thinking and analysis.

The programs and accompanying test exercises help build confidence as competency, skills and performance improve. Pre-test and post-test embedded self-assessments, images, charts and video clips add realism and improve information retention.

The upgraded Lippincott’s Professional Development Programs are available immediately by subscription to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. To learn more or to purchase, visit www.LWWNursingSolutions.com, or call 800-326-1685.

OUP and GRUR announce new publication partnership

September 6, 2012

Oxford University Press (OUP) and the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) are very pleased to announce a new partnership between the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP) and Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht, Internationaler Teil (GRUR Int.).

The publishing partnership will be based on exchange of content between the two journals. Under this agreement, both journals will include a section in each issue which will be filled by content from the partner journal. There is no additional cost to the customer, and the only change for each journal’s subscriber base will be the benefit of additional interesting content.

Rhodri Jackson, Senior Publisher for Law Journals and Oxford Open at OUP, said: “We’re really excited about this new arrangement, which we believe will allow JIPLP and GRUR Int. alike to extend their reach into new markets in an immediately visible and original way. Best of all, the partnership will provide new and interesting content to all our subscribers. JIPLP has become a very successful journal since we launched in 2006, and the partnership with GRUR shows our continuing commitment to innovating with the JIPLP formula in order to make the journal as compelling as possible to readers internationally.”

Professor Dr Michael Loschelder, Secretary General at GRUR, commented: “Intellectual property (IP) law has become increasingly global in nature and has developed into one of the most vibrant and challenging areas of law. As an academic non-profit IP association, GRUR is genuinely interested in fostering the dissemination and perception of IP content of general interest within Europe and beyond. Partnering with the renowned journal JIPLP provides an excellent new platform for this and will contribute to raising the international profile of GRUR Int.”

The first issues of GRUR Int. and JIPLP featuring content from the partner journal will be published in January 2013.

IOP Publishing announces its new journal, Methods and Applications in Fluorescence

September 6, 2012

IOP Publishing (IOP) has announced the launch of a new journal, Methods and Applications in Fluorescence. This brings IOP’s existing journals portfolio to 69 titles.

An electronic-only journal, Methods and Applications in Fluorescence will cover developments in fluorescence spectroscopy, imaging, fluorescent probes, labels and materials. It will focus on both methods and advanced applications and will accept original research articles, review articles and technical notes. The journal aims to be the natural forum for the very highest quality papers in the field.

Alongside the Editorial Board, three Editors-in-Chief will direct Methods and Applications in Fluorescence, in order to successfully cover the broad scope of the journal. The Editors-in-Chief are:

– Professor David Birch, University of Strathclyde, UK, who is also Editor-in-Chief of IOP’s journal Measurement Science & Technology.

– Professor Yves Mély, University of Strasbourg, France, who is also the Chair of the “Methods and Applications of Fluorescence: Spectroscopy, Imaging & Probes” conference Permanent Steering Committee.

– Professor Otto S Wolfbeis, University of Regensburg, Germany, who is also an Editor of Angewandte Chemie and founder of the “Methods and Applications of Fluorescence: Spectroscopy, Imaging & Probes” conference.

Speaking on behalf of all three Editors-in-Chief, Professor Birch said, “Methods and Applications in Fluorescence is a journal for the whole fluorescence community. Our aim is for the new journal to reflect the truly global and diverse impact fluorescence is having and help take fluorescence and its applications to even greater heights.”

Professor Birch added, “The applications of fluorescence to emerging areas in bionanotechnology, nanotechnology and nanomedicine are very much part of the vision for the journal. The success of the journal depends on all of us in the field and we look forward to working with researchers, as well as IOP Publishing in this exciting project.”

Dr Nicola Gulley, Editorial Director of IOP Publishing said of the launch, “Methods and Applications in Fluorescence will provide a new channel for members of the fluorescence community to discover and share research. We are delighted to be launching this new journal with the Editorial Board who are all experts within the fluorescence field. The journal is a complementary addition to IOP’s existing journals portfolio.”

IOP will manage the peer-review process in conjunction with the journal’s Editorial Board, as well as take responsibility for the production, sales and marketing of the journal. It will be published quarterly and will be freely available online until the end of 2013.

Methods and Applications in Fluorescence is currently open for submission of papers. For more information about the journal, go to iopscience.org/maf.

Education companies settle copyright and trademark infringement claims against textbook distributors

September 5, 2012

Four leading education companies, Cengage Learning, Inc., John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Pearson Education, Inc. and McGraw-Hill Education, today announced they have settled five unconnected matters involving copyright and trademark infringement claims against companies relating to the sale of counterfeit textbooks. The five separate settlements call for the combined payment of more than $2.6 million dollars and agreements not to engage in any infringement going forward. The five distributors agreeing to settle the publishers’ claims are: Kentwood Industries in California, Texas Book Company in Texas, Sterling Educational Media in Florida, Davis Textbook in California and ABSnext Corporation (formerly known as Budgetext Corporation) in Arkansas.

The settlements came about after an intensive investigation by the education companies revealed a large wave of counterfeit textbooks being distributed in the United States. The investigation further revealed that among the sources used by the textbook distributors to acquire their books were overseas suppliers identified as being a source of counterfeit textbooks.

“We hope that these settlements send a strong message that textbook publishers will not allow those who profit from the sale of counterfeit works to pocket that money,” said Matt Oppenheim, of Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP who represented Cengage Learning, Wiley, Pearson and McGraw-Hill. “These companies are continuing to enforce their rights and do not intend to allow others to sell infringing copies of their textbooks without facing the consequences of doing so.”

While the education companies have settled claims against these five distributors, they are currently pursuing action against other groups of individuals and companies that engaged in similar conduct.