Challenges in the Scholarly Publishing Cycle


Closed countries, open data 4


Rebecca Pool asks: has Covid-19 pushed the move towards open data to the point of no return?


Towards a community-driven, open access university publisher 10 Alenka Prinčič and Frédérique Belliard describe how they influenced the change from traditional academic publisher to innovative and community-driven university press


We just have to do something!


The open research agenda – for publications, data, and code – is driving companies to explore new business models, writes Lisa Hinchliffe


Swimming against the tide


Oluchi Ojinamma Okere considers Nigerian academic libraries and their struggle for relevance


Academic libraries and coronavirus: a view from Italy


The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of open access and open science, writes Rossana Morriello


Scientist ‘breaks up old-fashioned academic paper’


Documentary-maker Alex Freeman never imagined she would create a tool that could overhaul the structure of academic publishing


‘No rhyme or reason’ on ebook prices You didn’t ask, but I’ll tell you anyway! Bringing method to madness Accelerating open science in physics Helping new audiences follow the science


An ostentation of open science snippets from 2020 CISPC 2020 reviewed


Four pages of reports and reflections from the annual Research Information event Sponsors’ viewpoints Suppliers directory


Editorial and administrative team Editor: Tim Gillett tim.gillett@europascience.com +44 (0) 1223 221040 Specialist reporter: Rebecca Pool Design: David Houghton/Zöe Andrews Partnership & events executive: Charlie Mitchell charlie.mitchell@europascience.com


Advertising team Advertising manager: Mike Nelson mike.nelson@europascience.com +44 (0) 1223 221039


Corporate team Managing director: Warren Clark


Research Information is published by Europa Science Ltd, 4 Signet Court, Cambridge, CB5 8LA l ISSN 1744-8026 Tel: +44 (0) 1223 211170 l Fax: +44 (0) 1223 213385 Web: www.researchinformation.info


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A UK-based university librarian, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has spoken out about ‘gobsmacking’ prices for some ebooks


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Anna Seiffert reflects on the need to communicate the collection’s budget to admin and faculty


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Data is everywhere – but where does it come from, where is it being stored, and is it worth keeping? It is crucial to take stock, says Paul Stokes


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Daniel Keirs considers open science from the perspective of a physics publisher, including some of the steps needed to accelerate progress


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Richard Gallagher explains why reliable scientific insight is needed now more than ever News


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While every care has been taken in the compilation of this magazine, errors or omissions are not the responsibility of the publishers or of the editorial staff. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers or editorial staff. All rights reserved. Unless specifically stated, goods or services mentioned are not formally endorsed by Europa Science Ltd, which does not guarantee or endorse or accept any liability for any goods and/or services featured in this publication.


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Challenges in the Scholarly Publishing 2020 3 22 20 18 16


Contents and leader xxxxx


2020 vision


It’s probably fair to say that 2020 has been a year that many of us will never forget. As the industry conference season opened in January, there were rumblings and rumours of an imminent pandemic, and concerns that it would drastically affect the world of scholarly communication. Of course, that is exactly what came to pass – and the rest, as they say, is history. Looking back over the year, however, there


were significant moments in the movement towards open science – sometimes exacerbated by the arrival of Covid-19 – and in this yearbook we round up some of the key developments. On page 4 Rebecca Pool discovers how


the onset of the pandemic seems to have accelerated a more widespread move towards the adoption of open data practices, with evidence of a growth in data sharing and more collaboration between scientists. We feature a wide selection of analysis


pieces around the subject of open science and open data, along with a report on our very own event CISPC 2020 – with the tagline: Communication Strategies for Open Research. Owing to the pandemic, the event was fully virtual, but still attracted delegates from around the world and proved to be a great success. Read more on page 32. I hope you enjoy this yearbook, which is


available free to all our subscribers and will be distributed at industry events throughout 2021. Finger crossed – we may even be able to hand you a physical copy of the publication at some point!


Tim Gillett Editor


@researchinfo


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