1. Say blockchain one more time! What is the real value of blockchain to higher education?
The revolutionary potential of blockchain has been much touted in many fields including research and higher education. In his post in the LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog, Martin Hamilton discusses some of the potential applications of blockchain to academia and raises key questions about how these systems could be implemented and safeguarded from malicious exploitation.
The blog post says (quote): For blockchain to work, especially in education, there must be some sort of gatekeeper, if only to separate the wheat from the chaff. For instance, sometimes honours are revoked, or marks adjusted on appeal, so there must be a mechanism to record this - in a way that isn't prejudicial for the plaintiff. If anyone can peruse the blockchain (through one of the many explorer applications, perhaps) then these adjustments will be there for all to see, because the blockchain itself is immutable. Never say never though, because it is always possible to have sensitive information, particularly personal information, stored elsewhere, and keep a reference to it (like a URL) on the blockchain. But then what is the blockchain really for? What are the semantics of putting that pointer onto the blockchain? In the case of an academic record should they opt for 'LSE graduates', 'Former students of LSE', or just 'People who in some way have had an association with LSE at some point'?........(unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
2. Working Smarter to get Article Reprints and ePrints
Medical marketing teams depend on commercial reprints and ePrints of relevant journal articles to create awareness of the therapeutic areas and brands they manage. When multiple employees in the same organisation need the same published materials at the same time, coordinated article reprint orders are a great solution, notes Tracy Forrester, in her post in the CCC Blog.
The blog post says (quote): Now when an article of interest to the company is published, CCC’s reprints team alerts users in the relevant groups and offers them the opportunity to join a group purchase. Once each office confirms their desired order quantity and shipping and billing requirements, CCC's team manages the production and distribution, seeing the reprints order through to completion. This initiative has been very successful for the company, allowing the organisation to order more reprints while staying under budget. As a result of this coordination and pricing incentives offered by publishers, the company saved nearly $300,000 annually. In partnership with the client, CCC's reprints team can help coordinate outreach across global affiliates to secure article reprints. This frees individual brand managers of the time-consuming tasks of identifying, procuring, tracking and organising reprints content...........(unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
3. Will Publishers Have Platforms?
Publishers are losing online traffic on their own platforms. Roger C. Schonfeld, in his post in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog, discusses what this means for the future of the publisher site, and the hosted platform companies.
The blog post says (quote): The most acute implications of syndication may be not for publishers themselves, most of which might be perfectly happy to redirect their technology investments, but rather for those that provide publishing platforms. What role will platform providers, such as Atypon, HighWire, Ingenta, and SilverChair, have for themselves if syndication takes hold? Is there a scenario where their publisher-specific platform offerings are no longer needed or in which the value that they afford declines substantially? Are some of them already in the process of transitioning to alternative models? Or might some or all of them - presumably, ones with least technical debt and most strategic agility - see an opportunity to compete as one of the "supercontinents" or at least a disciplinary continent providing syndicated access to all content?............(unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
4. All publicly funded research could soon be free for you, the taxpayer, to read
What happens to research that is funded by taxpayers? A lot ends up in subscription-only journals, protected from the eyes of most by a paywall. The new Plan S initiative focuses on making all publicly funded research immediately fully and freely available by open access publication, notes Ritesh Chugh and Kenneth Howah, in their post in The Conversation Blog.
The blog post says (quote): Currently, members of the public and many parts of the research community do not have easy access to research outputs for comment and scrutiny. Research is hidden behind paywalls in subscription-only journals. Research institutions spend billions of dollars globally on subscriptions. Hiding valuable research results - particularly those that were taxpayer-funded - behind paywalls is a drawback of the existing scholarly publication model. The model has built its reputation on a rigorous peer review process and a strong track record. Unfortunately, although it does highlight the need for high quality open access journals, Plans S lacks adequate detail on this. This may lead to a proliferation of journals that comply with Plan S but may not have a good history and an efficient review process, thus compromising the publishing of credible results. The implementation of Plan S could also encourage publishers to increase their publishing prices, as they mitigate potential revenue losses in the transition from a subscription-based model.........(unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
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