ARL publishes Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311 for member libraries - August 12, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Public Access Policies, SPEC Kit 311, which explores the role played by ARL member libraries in supporting public access policies in their institutions. The concept of a public access policy for research results is based on the premise… Read More
SPARC unveils centralised web resource and group of experts to advise on OA policy - August 7, 2009
The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) has announced that it has introduced a new suite of web-based tools to facilitate fact-based campus policy discussions on open access (OA). This includes key topics such as copyright, journal sustainability, disciplinary differences and author rights. With these… Read More
ARL releases new guide on outreach to scholarly society leaders, editors and members - August 7, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has released a new guide on outreach to scholarly society leaders to assist libraries in developing positive, supportive relationships with leaders, editors, and members of academic scholarly societies affiliated with their institutions. It will support development of faculty outreach programmes… Read More
PRISMA statement endorsed by BioMed Central journals - July 29, 2009
A new reporting guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses - the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement - has been published and is endorsed in open access publisher BioMed Central's instructions to authors. The guidelines address systematic reviews and meta-analyses, which are considered the 'gold standard'… Read More
CERN and EU Commission announce closer scientific partnership - July 21, 2009
CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, and the European Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to enhance the long-standing partnership between the two organisations. The MoU will provide a structured framework for cooperation across a broad range of issues of common… Read More
Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship releases final report - June 30, 2009
The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship, convened jointly by the OCLC Board of Trustees and Members Council to represent the membership and inform OCLC on matters concerning shared data, has issued its final report. The report recommends that the proposed Policy… Read More
Court rules against Elsevier bid to block release of data in licensing contract with WSU - June 25, 2009
An injunction filed by STM publisher Elsevier, Netherlands, to block release of information included in a licensing contract between the publisher and Washington State University (WSU) was recently denied by a court in the state of Washington. A public-records request for contract terms had been submitted… Read More
Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty votes for open access policy - June 19, 2009
At its latest meeting, the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) voted for allowing the university to make all faculty members' scholarly articles publicly available online. The resolution makes HGSE the fourth of Harvard's 10 schools to endorse open access to faculty research… Read More
US publishers body endorses international joint statement on OA debate - June 11, 2009
The Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers (AAP/PSP) has expressed its endorsement of a joint statement on the open access (OA) debate issued by two international organisations representing publishers and librarians. The statement, entitled 'Enhancing the Debate on Open Access,' was… Read More
ARL calls for members to refrain from signing nondisclosure or confidentiality clauses - June 9, 2009
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Board of Directors voted in support of a resolution introduced by its Scholarly Communication Steering Committee to strongly encourage ARL member libraries to refrain from signing agreements with publishers or vendors, either individually or through consortia, which include nondisclosure or… Read More
