PLATFORM INNOVATIONS THAT STICK…and why some of them don’t
Phill Jones@phillbjones
Head of Publisher [email protected]
The Digital Science Portfolio
The publisher’s new job is to support researchers at every stage of the research cycle
-Annette Thomas, CEO Macmillan
We study trends in technology and market needs to accelerate science
1. Invest in promising start-ups
2. Develop tools internally
Improving Discovery
Improving meta-data and inter-operability make content more discoverable
However, mixed evidence on whether discovery layers are gaining traction
Do Discovery Layers Increase Usage?
http://www.slideshare.net/MichaelLevineClark/mlc-jdm-jsp-charleston-2013-slideshare-28161600
Generally, yes**Not for all publishers*Not for all Libraries
Case Study: University of Utrecht
A few people noticedNobody complained
source: http://libereurope.eu/news/thinking-the-unthinkable-a-library-without-a-catalogue-reconsidering-the-future-of-discovery-tools-for-utrecht-university-library/
Discontinued use of a discovery layer and catalogue to focus on access
Supplemental discovery solutions that fit into researcher
workflows
• Direct integration into reference managers
• Recommendation engines
Innovative Discovery Solutions
It is unclear how discovery will play out over the next couple of years
Keeping Users on Platform
~70-80% of users click on the PDF download
link
PDF appears inside browser
The user still appears to be online
BUT - Engagement is lost!
Innovation vs Window Dressing?
What publishers are trying to do
What some customers think publishers are doing
Innovation Driven by User NeedsInnovation that sticks comes from directly addressing the needs of the market
What keeps researchers awake at night?
1 Increasing competition for faculty and tenure posts• Growing need to showcase individual researcher contribution• Fewer posts, more competition, less time
2 The ways in which research impact is measured is changing• Individual article metrics increasing used alongside IF• Broader societal impact (altmetrics) becoming increasingly important
3 Mandates to make research output freely available• Open Access – NIH, Welcome Trust• Data Publication – EG American Heart Association
An Innovation that Stuck: Altmetrics
Society interacts with science in many ways, altmetrics is about measuring as much societal impact as possible
Impact is not limited to citations:
Public outreach Social media Traditional news Commercial Impact Legislative impact Policy
Snowball metrics
Publisher, institutional and researcher targeted products
The Evaluation Gap
Traditional measuresof impact
Research evaluation frameworks and funder mandates require authors to gather and collate both metrics and alternative research outputs
Funders’ requirements to measure impact• Societal Impact• Public
Engagement• Legislative
Impact
Wiley survey, 2014
http://exchanges.wiley.com/blog/2014/03/19/wiley-introduces-altmetrics-to-its-open-access-journals/
77% agreed or strongly
agreed that altmetrics enhanced
the value of the journal article
50% agreed that they were more likely to submit a paper to a journal that
supports altmetrics
65% felt the metrics
were useful
“Looking forward to the day I can put altmetric measures on my cv and have everyone who reads it know what they mean! I am a fan.”
— Britt Koskella (@bkoskella) July 2, 2013
Wiley’s Altmetrics Survey
The Lessons of Altmetrics• Many platform innovations have not gained significant traction but altmetrics have
• Altmetrics addresses several researcher pain-points1. Authors want rapid feedback on which of their articles
are the most interesting to researchers and to society2. Readers need ways to assess which content is likely to
be most interesting and useful3. A number of funders are assessing broader societal
impact, not just citations
• Question: What are the emerging needs that can be addressed with innovation?
A Neglected Market: Post-Docs
• ~90,000 postdocs in the US
• >50% non-US citizens
National Association of PostDocs
Post-Docs need to build an international reputation
1. Receive credit for their contributions
2. Share more of their research outputs
Open Science As Opportunity
A body of work begins with an idea and ends when the impact of that idea has been maximized.
Institutional/funding needs
Research management software, reporting
Personal ImpactAltmetrics, Author profiles
Documentation of findingsPublications, Open data
Doing the ResearchDigital Notebooks, Lab Management Software
Getting an IdeaReference Managers, Social Reading
Open science is a way for early stage researchers to get credit for their contributions
Funders are increasingly mandating open data
New Output TypesPublishers can enable researchers to make all research output available, discoverable and citable
Examples
JoVE pioneered video techniques publication
OMERA codifying and publishing microscopy data
Taylor and Francis and PLoS use figshare to visualize supplementary information and make data available
Library RepositoriesLibraries are using repositories to store and collate research output of their institutions
Many repository efforts lack adequate discoverabilityBUTLibrarians are learning quickly from publishers and researchers
The Data Space Race
Where will researchers go for data and other research outputs in the future?
Publishers’ supplementary infoOR
Institutional repositories?
Whoever makes it:
a. Discoverableb. Citablec. Linked to the article
Some Predictions
1. Researchers will use workflow tools like reference managers to aid discovery
2. Not all innovations will stick, look for those that serve market needs
3. Early career stage researchers will be key• They need new ways to get credit for their work• New publication types will include research outputs,
techniques, code, even lab notes
4. The data publishing space will be critical
Digital Science Research Reports
Free quarterly publication on research data and analytical possibilities
First issue, June 2014
Evidence for excellence: has the signal overtaken the substance?byJonathon Adams, Chief Scientist for Digital Science
http://www.digital-science.com/blog/posts/digital-science-launches-digital-research-reports
Thank You For Listening
Phill JonesHead of Publisher OutreachDigital Science
www.digital-science.com
@phillbjones