SPARC2 - SPARC Blog

New SPARC Community Resource on Article-Level Metrics

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:10:11 UT

By Greg Tananbaum

Today, SPARC released a new community resource delving into Article-Level Metrics (ALMs) an emerging hot topic in the scholarly publishing arena. Article-Level Metrics (ALMs) are rapidly emerging as important tools to quantify how individual articles are being discussed, shared, and used.

Knowledge Exchange Releases SPARC-sponsored Report on Strategies for Sustaining Open Access Resources

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:48:42 UT

By Raym Crow

Knowledge Exchange* has released “The Collective Provision of Open Access Resources,” the third report in its multiphase “Sustainability of Open Access Resources” initiative. The report, which was funded by SPARC, examines the practical planning issues relevant to the economic sustainability of infrastructure services that support the growth of the open-access dissemination of scholarly and scientific research.

New SPARC Open Data Resource for Research Funders

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:00:51 UT

By Greg Tananbaum

Today, SPARC released a new community resource for research funders entitled, “Implementing an Open Data Policy”. This primer addresses key issues that these organizations encounter when considering the adoption and implementation of an open data policy. The guide covers big-picture topics such as how to decide on the range of activities an open data policy should cover.

With Introduction of FASTR, Congress Picks up the Pace on Open Access Legislation

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:59:56 UT

By Heather Joseph

The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), introduced today in both the House and the Senate, represents an important step forward in the legislative progression toward the goal of Open Access to publicly funded research. Based on the framework laid out by the highly successful NIH Public Access Policy, (as well as the previously-proposed Federal Research Public Access Act) the bill proposes terms and conditions that fully enable digital reuse of publicly funded research articles - as well as calling for their timely, barrier-free availability.

Honoring an "Open" Activist by Taking Action

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:49:12 UT

By Heather Joseph
As we struggle to digest the news of the loss of Aaron Swartz, a brilliant intellect, a passionate activist, and a very human 26-year-old, I am, as I suspect we all are, wrestling with conflicting emotions. Heartsickness over a promising life ended too soon; anger over the circumstances that drove his actions, and frustration that we’re still faced with a world where we are fighting for something as basic as open, equitable access to scholarly and scientific research.

SCOAP3 Project Progresses

Heather Joseph — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:27:08 UT

After an intense period of behind-the-scenes effort, CERN's open access, library, purchasing, and legal staff, along with the SCOAP global Steering Committee and Technical Working Group, secured with leading publishers the participation in principle of 12 HEP (full or partial) journals; developed a project governance structure; crafted a framework for performing calculations for subscription reduction and re-direction; and are putting into place a series of National Contact Persons (NCPs), who are responsible for securing participation from libraries, library consortia, research institutions, and funding agencies in their countries.

R2RC Partners with PhD Comics for Open Access Week Video!

Andrea Higginbotham — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:05:31 UT

To close Open Access Week 2012, we’re excited to announce our video collaboration with PhD Comics to produce “Open Access Explained!”. The comic-style animated video is a great resource to explain the basics of Open Access and why it’s important to friends, family, and colleagues. Take a look, and help us spread the word about Open Access throughout the research community and to the public at large!

Open Access Week 2012 in Full Swing

Heather Joseph — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:37:19 UT

Open Access Week 2012 is underway, and we here at SPARC are watching with delight as the buzz from the announcements, events, contests, launches, and just plain cool activities underway in the community continues to grow.

SUNY Potsdam Takes Tough Stand Against American Chemical Society Prices

Heather Joseph — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:32:02 UT

Many of you have heard about the SUNY-Potsdam library's recent experiences in trying to navigate continued price increases to the American Chemical Society journals' subscriptions. SPARC's Caralee Adams highlights the struggle and outcome with an in-depth profile of the Director of Libraries, Jenica Rogers.

Advocates Set Ambitious Goal: Setting the Default to Open Access in Ten Years’ Time

Heather Joseph — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:08:44 UT

Ten years ago, a small group of activists convened in Budapest to discuss ways for the academic community to come together and work to make all research articles in all academic fields freely available online. The participants (which included SPARC’s Founding Executive Director, Rick Johnson) represented a wide variety of academic disciplines, national affiliations, and points of view. All were involved in efforts to create a more open system of scholarly communication.

A Tribute to Lee Dirks

Heather Joseph — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:31:24 UT

Wikimedia Endorses OA Petition and Next Steps

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:53:30 UT

Just four days into the White House’s “We the People” Petition over 17,000 people have signed, calling on the Obama Administration to “require free access over the Internet to journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research.”

Now, the Open Access movement benefits from today’s powerful endorsement from the Wikimedia Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.

Sign the White House Petition on Open Access to Research Today!

Heather Joseph — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:10:06 UT

We now have a brief, critical window of opportunity to demonstrate that we as a community firmly believe should be a high priority for the Administration to act on right now. To help accomplish this, today, May 21st, a petition calling for Public Access to all Federally Funded Research has been posted to the White House's "We the People" Website. If the petition garners 25,000 signatures within 30 days, it will be reviewed by White House staff, and considered for action.

Tags: obama, Open access, research, white house

Bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) Continues to Gain Support in Congress

Andrea Higginbotham — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:45:20 UT

Good news for supporters of open access to the results of taxpayer funded research this week, as Members of Congress continue to express their support for the proposed legislation.

FPRAA takes Center Stage at Congressional Hearing

Andrea Higginbotham — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:57:08 UT

Open access issues are clearly on the minds of U.S. lawmakers. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight conducted a hearing on the topic “Examining Public Access and Scholarly Publication Interests.” The hearing was designed to generate information regarding open access in general, but quickly turned into a discussion of the recently-reintroduced Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA).