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RPS and the REF open access policy training sessions in February and March
By Patrycja A Barczynska, on 4 February 2019
Booking is now open for training on RPS and the REF open access policy in February and March. Last term’s training sessions were very popular, and feedback received was extremely positive: all respondents found sessions very useful (65%) and useful (35%).
All UCL authors are required to maintain a list of their publications in UCL’s Research Publication Service (RPS). To comply with the REF open access policy, they must also upload the final accepted manuscript version of their research articles and conference proceedings to RPS. This needs to be done no later than three months after first online publication. The Open Access Team review the manuscript and make it open access through UCL Discovery, UCL’s open access repository.
Our training sessions will explain the REF open access policy and what to do to comply with its requirements. They will also show you how to, in RPS:
- set up name-based search settings
- use all the advantages of RPS’s automated claiming tool (including linking RPS to your ORCID ID)
- record a publication
- upload a file
The sessions will be a good opportunity to ask questions about RPS and the REF open access policy, and they are open to all UCL staff and interested research students. New members of staff, and anyone who is unsure about any of the features mentioned above, are strongly encouraged to attend. Regular reports on compliance with the REF open access policy, and on academics’ use of RPS, are sent to Faculty Deans and Heads of Department.
Upcoming sessions
Thursday, 14th February, 11:00 – 12:00
Foster Court, room 235
Thursday, 14th March, 11:00 – 12:00
Engineering Front Building, room 104
To book, and if you have any questions, please email: open-access@ucl.ac.uk
Also let us know if you would like to organise group training or drop-in sessions in your department.
A response from Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at the Wellcome Trust, to UCL’s “Response to Plan S”
By Catherine L Sharp, on 30 January 2019
UCL is pleased to post Robert Kiley’s response to the UCL Town Hall meeting and UCL’s Plan S consultation response as a contribution to the ongoing consultation over Plan S.
As the cOAlition S representative at the UCL Town Hall meeting I’d like to thank UCL for their response to the Plan S guidance document and for giving me the opportunity to respond to some of the points raised.
Firstly, I’d like to commend UCL for the principled stand it has taken on open access and open science more generally. This stand has been supported by concrete actions as seen in the development of UCL Press – where all content is made freely available – and the fact that UCL were one of the first UK universities to sign the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and implement this through its academic career framework.
With this pedigree and background, I was disappointed by the UCL response to Plan S which calls for a “wholescale rethink of the strategy and timelines for moving to 100% Open Access”.
The fundamental aim of Plan S is to ensure that research outputs are made openly available, for the benefit of all. As a species we are facing huge problems – climate change, epidemic preparedness etc. – and to begin to address these we need to ensure that the research we fund is fully accessible and usable. At the UCL Town Hall meeting, Professor David Shanks gave the example of the Liberian government being unaware of research which talked about the potential impact of an Ebola outbreak within their country. Had this research been openly available – and the Liberian government acted upon it – then some of the 4810 deaths may have been prevented.
To bring about this change, we need to move to a world where no research is behind a paywall: this is why we are no longer supporting the hybrid OA model. However, we recognise that publishers may not be able to change their business model immediately. For this reason, the Plan S implementation guidance makes clear that, for a time-limited period, we will continue to support subscription publishers who develop transformative models to move to OA. And we are already starting to see some publishers move in this direction, as witnessed by the recent Wiley agreement with Projekt DEAL.
In your response you point out that, as of today, many journals do not offer a Plan S-compliant option. This is true. But, if these journals wish to continue to publish the outputs of researchers funded by cOAlition S funders, they will need to develop alternative publishing models. A journal which can no longer publish research funded by cOAlition S funders is, in the long term, a less impactful journal.
And, even if some journals do refuse to change their model, given that many funders and institutions have signed DORA (including UCL) does this really matter? If you are assessing researchers based on the research they have conducted and its societal impact, the venue of publication should have no bearing on funding, promotion and hiring decisions.
Within the Plan S leadership team we fully appreciate that the changes we are seeking to bring about will be challenging and that a number of learned societies – many of whom rely on publishing revenues to support their other activities – may face particular difficulties. To address this issue, Wellcome has joined with UKRI and the ALPSP to fund a study to explore how learned societies can adapt and thrive in a Plan S world. In reviewing the submissions for this piece of work it is interesting to see a number of new initiatives being trialled, such as the Electrochemical Society’s “Free the Science” initiative, the “Subscribe to Open” model being implemented by the not-for-profit publisher Annual Reviews and various other consortia models.
Ultimately, for Plan S to be successful we need the initiative to be supported globally. The UCL response correctly points out that Europe alone is too small a player to bring about this change. That is why significant effort is being deployed to encourage other funders to align their policies with Plan S. At the recent Berlin OA2020 meeting the Chinese delegation indicated that they support the ambition of Plan S. More recently the African Academy of Sciences signalled its support, and discussions are ongoing with colleagues in many other parts of the work including the US, Canada, Japan and India.
Of course, it is not just funders who need to support this initiative. As your observations indicate, engagement between many stakeholders is required, and cOAlition S members are keen to foster this dialogue. Specifically, institutions – like UCL – can play a significant role in bringing about the change we all seek. At one level this can be supporting academics, making it clear that venue of publication will not be used when undertaking researcher evaluation. At another level this might take the form of making a public commitment that library journal subscription budgets will, at some future date, be used to meet the publishing costs incurred by researchers at your institutions. If publishers understand that the subscription revenues for “read access” are time-limited, the flip to open access will surely happen more quickly.
Working together we can bring about this change to ensure that research outputs are made openly available, for the benefit of all. Now is the time to act.
UCL response to Plan S consultation
By Catherine L Sharp, on 21 January 2019
UCL has submitted an institutional response to the Plan S consultation. This response was shaped by the UCL Plan S Town Hall meeting that was held on 8 January (and also takes into account subsequent feedback received from UCL academics). The response, and the supporting document (notes from the Town Hall meeting) are available below.
UCL Plan S Town Hall meeting
By Catherine L Sharp, on 10 January 2019
Plan S requires that, from 2020, scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published in compliant Open Access journals or platforms.
Plan S is an initiative for open access publishing that was launched in September 2018. The plan is supported by cOAlition S, an international consortium of research funders. This group currently comprises 13 national research funding organisations (including UK Research and Innovation/UK Research Councils) and three charitable foundations (including the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) from 13 countries. Together with the European Commission and the ERC, they have agreed to implement the 10 principles of Plan S in a coordinated way.
UCL held a Town Hall meeting on 8 January to discuss the principles of Plan S, as well as what its implementation will mean for researchers. Around 115 staff from across UCL attended. The Open Access Team would like to thank everyone who shared their views and questions.
Presentations from the meeting are now available:
- Plan S: Making Open Access a Reality by 2020
- Funders and Plan S
- Plan S and Humanities Researchers
- Implementing Plan S
cOAlition S is running a consultation on the Plan until 8 February 2019. You can contribute to the consultation directly. To arrange a meeting in your department to discuss the implications of Plan S, contact the Open Access Team at open-access@ucl.ac.uk.
RPS and the REF open access policy training sessions
By Patrycja A Barczynska, on 3 January 2019
In the new year we are back with our programme of regular training sessions on RPS and the REF open access policy.
All UCL authors are required to maintain a list of their publications in UCL’s Research Publication Service (RPS). To comply with the REF open access policy, they must also upload the final accepted manuscript version of their research articles and conference proceedings to RPS. This needs to be done no later than three months after first online publication. The Open Access Team review the manuscript and make it open access through UCL Discovery, UCL’s open access repository.
Our training sessions will explain the REF open access policy and what to do to comply with its requirements. They will also show you how to, in RPS:
- set up name-based search settings
- use all the advantages of RPS’s automated claiming tool (including linking RPS to your ORCID ID)
- record a publication
- upload a file
The sessions will be a good opportunity to ask questions about RPS and the REF open access policy, and they are open to all UCL staff and interested research students. New members of staff, and anyone who is unsure about any of the features mentioned above, are strongly encouraged to attend. Regular reports on compliance with the REF open access policy, and on academics’ use of RPS, are sent to Faculty Deans and Heads of Department.
Upcoming sessions
Tuesday, 8th January, 11:00 – 12:00
Gordon House, room 309
Thursday, 24th January, 11:00 – 12:00
Engineering Front Building, room 104
To book, and if you have any questions, please email: open-access@ucl.ac.uk
Also let us know if you would like to organise group training or drop-in sessions in your department.
How to Share your FAIR Data – 25th October 2018
By Catherine L Sharp, on 26 October 2018
This week UCL hosted a series of events to coincide with International Open Access Week (22nd -28th October). The Research Data Management team were on hand to deliver a session on data sharing and the role it currently plays in the Open Science agenda. The session was divided into two parts. The first half introduced researchers to the importance and practical considerations of sharing data in keeping with the FAIR data principles. This was followed by a talk from Dr. Ben Thomas from the Institute of Nuclear Medicine who spoke of his experiences of using the EU-funded Zenodo repository to add a working example of data sharing to the session.
Many thanks to all those that attended and hopefully the session provided some useful information for researchers to further explore the merits of sharing research data.
The slides from the FAIR Data session can also be found on UCL Discovery, UCL’s open access repository and in SlideShare here.
Doctoral theses in UCL’s repository
By Patrycja A Barczynska, on 25 October 2018
At UCL, candidates for research degrees are required to deposit an electronic copy of their final thesis in UCL’s Research Publications Service (RPS), to be made open access in UCL’s institutional repository, UCL Discovery. Students can choose to restric public access to their thesis, for a variety of reasons like future publication, copyright restriction or sensitive data, but most are made open access immediately, or after a delay period no longer than 12 months.
The requirement to submit an electronic copy of your thesis as a condition of award has been in place at UCL since 2009. In addition to that, we have retrospectively digitised theses from earlier years, as a part of a collaborative project with ProQuest. So far, about 3,500 theses have been made available in UCL Discovery as a part of this collaboration. Theses are also digitised through the British Library’s e-Theses Online Service (EThOS), upon request.
In total, there are over 10,500 theses available in UCL’s institutional repository, dating as far back as 1933. UCL theses are amongst our most-downloaded items! The most popular is a 1990 thesis, Marketing theories and concepts for the international construction industry, available here. Amongst the theses available there are some completed by notable UCL alumni:
Julian Baggini, philosopher and author of popular books on philosophy, including A Short History of Truth, The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments, and most recently How the World Thinks. Baggini completed his PhD in 1996, and his thesis on philopsphy of idnetity was recently made available here: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10057733/
Adam Rutherford, geneticist and author, has produced several science documentaries, and hosts the BBC 4 radio programme Inside Science. He completed his PhD at UCL in 2002, and his thesis on the role of a specific gene (CHX10) on eye development was recently made available in UCL Discovery: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10057801/
Chris Van Tulleken, together with his twin brother and fellow doctor Xand, makes programmes on various aspects of health, most recently Operation Ouch for CBBC. He is also an infectious diseases doctor and MRC Clinical Research Fellow at University College London Hospital, and completed his PhD in 2017. Chris’ thesis is available here: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1567969/
Open Access Week – REF and beyond!
By Catherine L Sharp, on 24 October 2018
It was great to see so many people, both academics and research support staff, at our REF and Open Access Lunch today. Thanks to Adam Cresswell, UCL’s REF Manager, for an in-depth look at how the REF submission is managed at UCL.
We hope that everyone enjoyed the event, and that you were inspired to think beyond REF compliance, and to make open access a priority for all your research.
The slides from this session are now available:
REF2021 overview for beginners
Open Access Week starts here!
By Catherine L Sharp, on 22 October 2018
RPS and the REF open access policy training sessions – more dates
By Patrycja A Barczynska, on 18 October 2018
This academic year, UCL Open Access Team introduced a programme of regular training sessions on RPS and the REF open access policy. October dates proved very popular, and now we’ve added more sessions in November and early December.
All UCL authors are required to maintain a list of their publications in UCL’s Research Publication Service (RPS). To comply with the REF open access policy, they must also upload the final accepted manuscript version of their research articles and conference proceedings to RPS. This needs to be done no later than three months after first online publication. The Open Access Team review the manuscript and make it open access through UCL Discovery, UCL’s open access repository.
Our training sessions will explain the REF open access policy and what to do to comply with its requirements. They will also show you how to, in RPS:
- set up name-based search settings
- use all the advantages of RPS’s automated claiming tool (including linking RPS to your ORCID ID)
- record a publication
- upload a file
The sessions will be a good opportunity to ask questions about RPS and the REF open access policy, and they are open to all UCL staff and interested research students. New members of staff, and anyone who is unsure about any of the features mentioned above, are strongly encouraged to attend. Regular reports on compliance with the REF open access policy, and on academics’ use of RPS, are sent to Faculty Deans and Heads of Department.
Upcoming sessions
Thursday, 1st November, 11:00 – 12:00
IOE, 20 Bedford Way, room W3.07
Tuesday, 6th November, 11:00 – 12:00
Foster Court, room 243
Tuesday, 20th November, 14:00 – 15:00
1-19 Torrington Place, room B09
Thursday, 6th December 11:00 – 12:00
1-19 Torrington Place, room B09
To book, and if you have any questions, please email: open-access@ucl.ac.uk
Also let us know if you would like to organise group training or drop-in sessions in your department.
