News Jisc offers Preservation service
Preservation, a new Jisc service, is aimed at making it easier for institutions to keep their digital collections accessible and reusable, comply with multiple mandates and fulfil their statutory obligations. Developed with input from Jisc members and leading preservation system suppliers, Jisc’s Preservation is a tool that can be used to preserve any digital asset, such as special collections, electronic records management and research data. The tool keeps multiple copies of selected data, automates checks to make sure data has not been changed, and converts data in old formats to newer ones so it can be used with new technology. Preservation is based on industry-standard systems Artefactual and Preservica. Liz Bal, director of open research
services at Jisc (right), said: ‘We’re delighted to launch the first in a series of solutions to help universities keep their digital assets safe and accessible. Short- term, file-saving solutions and one-time deposit files can usually make digital assets findable, but their usability will deteriorate
over time when new software evolves, and formats are no longer compatible. Our Preservation system is designed for a wide range of use cases over and beyond research, and will help universities to future-proof the use of information even beyond the lifetime of existing systems and formats.’
Institutions are increasingly looking to
advance the reuse of data, boosting their data impact, which is important for their REF score, the system that assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. Preservation also plays a key role in protecting the reputation of researchers and their institutions. This Jisc tool preserves data and computer code underpinning research, which allows others to reproduce and validate results; in some cases many years after the original project has finished.
William Kilbride, director of the Digital
Preservation Coalition, welcomed the new initiative: ‘Digital preservation is a significant and emergent challenge which needs continuing assessment and
renewal, as technologies and use cases change. Research data is just one example, occupying a significant proportion of the Bit List of Digitally Endangered Species. The threats of obsolescence or loss are amplified where the technical challenges are high and responsibilities diffuse. Services like this reduce those risks, giving institutions the confidence and the opportunity to realise the enduring value of their digital assets.’
Company of Biologists adopts transformative approach
The Company of Biologists has become the first not-for-profit publisher to commit to the transformative journal approach, with its three hybrid journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – choosing the ‘transformative’ route towards open access.
The Company of Biologists has offered open access publishing options since 2004 and two of its five journals are already fully open access. The transformative journal strategy signals more clearly the journals’ commitment to move towards full open access, while a transition period allows the company to provide publishing options that support all authors through this change in the publishing landscape. Transformative journals proactively champion open access publishing and have open access growth targets. Over the 2021 to 2024 transition period, the three journals aim to grow the proportion of open access research content by five per cent year-on-year. When open access research content reaches 75 per cent, the journals will flip to full open access. ‘We believe open access is the direction
of travel and we are excited about this next step on our open access journey. This is about more than just becoming Plan S-compliant,’ said Claire Moulton,
@researchinfo |
www.researchinformation.info October/November 2020 Research Information 49
publisher at The Company of Biologists. ‘The transformative journal approach helps us balance two key priorities – making research accessible to everyone and our support of the whole author community. Our open access growth targets will be challenging. We plan to be transparent about our progress, so there are no big surprises along the way.’ Open access growth will require real changes in the marketplace, such as funder mandates (including financial support for gold open access) and more libraries/consortia taking up read and publish agreements to enable authors to publish free open access articles in the journals. These changes may be even more challenging given the financial difficulties expected in the university sector after
Covid-19. To maximise the chances of success, The Company of Biologists says it will be working closely with its stakeholders. Robert Kiley, head of open research at
Wellcome, said: ‘I am delighted that The Company of Biologists is fully committed to transitioning its journals to full open access – as evidenced by the read and publish arrangements developed last year, and the announcement today that their three subscription journals will become transformative journals, from January 2021. We welcome the commitment to transition to full open access, to offset subscription income from payments for publishing services and to work to increase the share of OA content, year-on-year. I hope other journals follow the lead set by The Company of Biologists.’
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