Weekly digest: what’s happening in open science?

Adeline Rosenberg

Featuring the advent of ‘little’ subscription deals for libraries, a reminder of the upcoming Open Access Week panel discussion, a new upload to our figshare, a new trans-inclusive policy from F1000Research and Wellcome Open Research, further commitments to scientific integrity from vaccine developers, and the best and worst institutions in the USA for clinical trial transparency.

“Little deals everywhere” via The Publication Plan

Historically, academic libraries have favoured entering into comprehensive ‘big deals’ with publishers over ‘little deals’. However, as Lettie Y Conrad (Senior Associate, Maverick Publishing Specialists) recently explained over on The Scholarly Kitchen, ‘little deals’ are becoming increasingly popular. The types of individualized subscription and publishing packages that many libraries are switching over to are flexible and can include packages such as pay-per-view article-level services, à la carte subscriptions, open access options, transformative agreements and alternative routes.

Upcoming event reminder: publishing open access saves lives via MedComms Networking

Don’t forget to register for our NetworkPharma Zoom webinar, which will be held at 12:00 BST on Wednesday 21 October and will feature a multi-stakeholder panel discussion on open access.

Research quality in industry and academia via figshare

In September, Open Pharma’s Tim Koder gave a presentation at the Wellcome Genome CampusReproducibility, Replicability and Trust in Science Virtual Conference, speaking on the importance of quality and transparency across industry and academia. A recording of the presentation is now available to download and watch via the Open Pharma figshare page

A win for trans inclusivity via F1000Research

Changing one’s name is often an important rite of passage for many trans people who are transitioning to their true gender identity. However, this can often be a lengthy bureaucratic process. A new policy from F1000Research and Wellcome Open Research aims to simplify this process for trans authors by ensuring that publication records across journals and indexes, such as PubMed, are updated to reduce occurrences of ‘deadnaming’.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joins vaccine integrity pledge via Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The signatories of September’s ‘historic pledge’ to ensure the scientific integrity of COVID-19 pharmaceutical developments – covered in a previous weekly digest here – have signed another joint communique in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, again confirming their commitment to ending the pandemic through upholding scientific values and expanding global access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

The best and worst in clinical trial transparency via TranspariMED

Here, TranspariMED reports on the latest data from the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act TrialsTracker that show who are the best adherents of clinical trial transparency and the worst offenders in terms of lack of transparency. Gilead, GSK, Mayo Clinic, Novartis and Pfizer are currently leading the way with 100% disclosure rates, with the USA’s two largest clinical trial sponsors, MD Anderson Cancer Center and National Cancer Institute, close behind at 99% and 90%, respectively. Meanwhile, Cutera has not made a single clinical trial result public!

We at Open Pharma would like to continue to encourage all our readers to look after themselves and their community and to continue to follow advice from their country’s government and health organizations.

Coronavirus mental health and well-being resources:

Mind UK

Mental Health Foundation UK

Center for Disease Control and Prevention