This week, we highlight Peer Review Week! We read the thoughts of the Scholarly Kitchen on Peer Review Week and the future of peer review and publishing. We also read about the impact of mandatory code sharing on peer review at PLOS Computational Biology, about updates to the Journal Checker Tool by cOAlition S and about a new partnership between IOI and arXiv. We also highlight next month’s International Open Access Week, and we read the latest news in Australasian open access. Finally, we look forward to an upcoming SPARC webinar on editorial board resignations.
To read:
Thoughts on the theme of Peer Review Week 2023 via The Scholarly Kitchen | 10-minute read
This week saw the return of Peer Review Week for 2023! To kick things off, three writers from the Scholarly Kitchen have provided their thoughts on this year’s theme, Peer review and the future of publishing. Despite writing separate sections and not consulting with one another, the writers found a common theme in their sections, which was that the future of peer review and publishing hinges on the importance of people in creating, reviewing and publishing research.
What are the most important issues for the future of peer review? via The Scholarly Kitchen | 14-minute read
Hear from the Scholarly Kitchen ‘chefs’ as they tell us what they believe is ‘the single most pressing issue for the future of peer review in scholarly publishing’. Answering this question are Rick Anderson (University Librarian at Brigham Young University), Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (Affiliate Professor of Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Hong Zhou (Director of Intelligent Services at Wiley), Avi Staiman (Founder and CEO of Academic Language Experts), Alice Meadows (Co-founder of MoreBrains Cooperative), Haseeb Irfanullah (Independent Consultant on Environment, Climate Change and Research Systems), Angela Cochran (Vice President of Publishing at the American Society of Clinical Oncology), Charlie Rapple (Co-founder of Kudos) and Karin Wulf (Professor of History at Brown University).
The interplay between code sharing and peer review via PLOS | 8-minute read
In 2021, the journal PLOS Computational Biology made code sharing mandatory if the published research included the creation of code. This included sharing the code at the peer review stage and making the code public upon publication. After a successful trial period, mandatory code sharing became a permanent feature of the journal, and the code sharing rate is now 96%. This blog post features interviews with the senior editorial team at PLOS Computational Biology about the impact of the code sharing policy on peer review.
New developments for the Journal Checker Tool via Plan S | 3-minute read
The Journal Checker Tool (JCT) was developed by cOAlition S to help authors find journals that offer Plan S compliant open access routes for their research. Now, the JCT has been updated to help authors search for journals and institutions with transformative agreements. This article looks at the reason behind the update and how the new search functionality works.
IOI partners with arXiv to strengthen its governance and sustainability via Invest in Open Infrastructure | 3-minute read
Preprint server arXiv has partnered with Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI) to help it remain operational, open source, user-centred and financially viable. The partnership started in March 2023 and is taking place over 14 months in four phases. During this period, IOI and arXiv have agreed on the following goals: (1) identify opportunities for funding diversification; (2) expand operational capacity and process to empower continued growth and viability; and (3) design a robust architecture for community participation and governance structures. To stay in the loop of this ongoing partnership, sign up to IOI’s newsletter.
To engage with:
International Open Access Week 2023 via International Open Access Week
International Open Access Week 2023 will take place between 23 and 29 October, and this year’s theme will be Community over commercialisation. The theme aims to focus attention on the open scholarship practices that prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community over those that prioritize commercial interests. To celebrate the week, events will be happening all over the world. Submit your own event here!
What’s new in Australasian open access? via Open Access Australasia
In preparation for next month’s International Open Access Week, Open Access Australasia have provided an update on all things open access in Australasia in its August/September newsletter. As well as recent articles and blog posts on Australasian open access, the newsletter also highlights four webinars that will be hosted by Open Access Australasia during International Open Access Week. These webinars will focus on community control, open access books, diamond open access and indigenous-led research. You can register for the webinars via the respective links.
SPARC webinar on journal editorial board resignations via SPARC
The past year has seen a spate of journal editorial board resignations. Although primarily in protest of high publishing fees, resignations have also been attributed to increased pressure to expand the volume of publications and dismissive attitudes towards researchers’ visions for their journals. This webinar, hosted by SPARC and moderated by Nick Shockey (Director of Programs and Engagement at SPARC), will feature representatives from editorial boards who have recently resigned owing to commercial publisher policies. Taking place on 12 October 2023, speakers will include Anna Stilz (Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University), Johan Rooryck (Editor-in-Chief of Glossa), Kristen Kennedy (Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas) and Lindsay McLaren (Professor of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary).
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