open access publishing in africa calum land biomed central ltd eifl online workshop 21 st october...
TRANSCRIPT
Open Access Publishingin Africa
Calum Land
BioMed Central Ltd
EIFL Online Workshop
21st October 2011
Agenda
• What is Open Access?
• Digital Bridge or Digital Divide?
• BioMed Central and Africa
• How can Open Access benefit Africa?
• Open Access advocacy
• An Open Access journal case study
What is Open Access?
The old world of access to knowledge
The new world of access to knowledge
Characteristics of Open Access
• The publisher charges directly for the service of
publication/ dissemination
• Research permanently available via the Internet
• No barriers to access such as subscription costs
• Licensed so as to allow redistribution and reuse (Creative Commons)
• Archived in an internationally recognized repository
(e.g. PubMed Central)
Business Model
• Article-processing charge (APC) covers:• Editorial: handling of manuscripts• Technical: development, maintenance and operation of online
journal system• Production: Formatting and mark up of articles, inclusion in
indexing services• Marketing: Making sure readers and authors know about the
journal• Customer service: Responding to authors/readers
• Web technology is used to keep costs low• BioMed Central’s charges (~$1680) are at the lower end
Open Access Publishing,then and now…
20112000
And many more…
Where is Open Access in 2011?• There are over 6400 open access journals in the
DOAJ
• Over 1000 open access journals are indexed by ISI
• Open access to research is now mandated in over
110 institutions and by 47 funders
• Submissions to OA journals grew by over 35%
between 2009 and 2010
• Open access firmly part of the mainstream…....
Open access article share
The internet has the potential to radically expand access to
knowledge
- Digital divide or digital bridge?
African internet connectivity is improving dramatically
“Many African postgraduates lack access to, and the skills for working on, computers.”
“Many African postgraduates lack access to, and the skills for working on, computers.”
ICT Levels
International Telecommunications Union report (2009)
Although the number of Internet users has grown faster than in other regions:
“Africa’s ICT penetration levels in 2009 are still far behind the rest of the world and very few African countries reach ICT levels comparable to global averages”
“Computer Aid has provided over 180,000 PCs to where they are most needed in more than 100 countries across Africa and Latin America.”
“Computer Aid has provided over 180,000 PCs to where they are most needed in more than 100 countries across Africa and Latin America.”
BMC/Nature 10K fun run in support of ComputerAid
As connectivity improves, other access barriers become significant
Open access journals do away with access barriers
BioMed Central and Africa
About BioMed Central
• Largest publisher of peer-reviewed open access journals
• Launched first open access journal in 2000
• Became part of Springer in 2008
• Now publishes 217 open access journals
• >100,000 peer-reviewed OA articles published • All research articles published under Creative Commons
license
• Costs covered by article processing charge (APC)
OA Waiver Fund
All African countries receive automatic fee waiver, except:
• Libya • Namibia• South Africa
Algeria Botswana Equatorial Guinea Gabon
Growth in manuscript submissions from Africa to BioMed Central
Manuscript submissions from Africa as fraction of total
Top 10 journals for publications from Africa in last 12 months
New Developing World Website
Open Access Africa Conference
How can Open Access benefit Africa?
UN Millennium Development Goals
• Reduce child mortality, improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development
Who needs access to the results of research?
Public
Professionals
Researchers
Research on global health issues has expanded greatly
• Developing world health issues are finally attracting substantial research spending
• Private philanthropic initiatives have played an important role
Why do research if it is not accessible where it is most relevant?
• Wellcome Trust
• Medical Research Council
• US National Institute of Health
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• European Research Council
• EC Seventh Framework Program
Many research funders are now requiring Open Access
• Harvard University (and other members of Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity)
• More than 100 mandatory institution-wide open access policies world-widehttp://www.eprints.org/openaccess/policysignup/
• But still very few in Africa…
Many universities are now requiring open access
The Need for Advocacy
Open access policies
Data courtesy of www.openscholarship.org
Call to action….
BMC Foundation Membership
• A new type of membership created for developing nations
• Designed to support Open Access advocacy
• Same benefits as other institutional memberships
• No cost
Benefits of Foundation Membership
• A BMC Webpage
• A Member welcome pack
• Membership usage reports
• Member logo/badge for use on institution website
• PR of Membership
Criteria for Foundation Membership
• Institution should have a Open Access policy in place
• Institution should have submitted at least 5 articles in BioMed Central journals in the last year
• Member web page screen shot
Open Access journals
Malaria Journal - an open access journal case study
Malaria Journal homepage
Annual growth in submissions to Malaria Journal
Top 20 African countries publishing in Malaria Journal (no. of articles)
Impact Factor Trend
A highly accessed Malaria Journal article
15,000+ downloads
31 citations
Parasite to Prevention - Malaria Journal’s scientific conference
• Inaugural conference October 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland
• Full bursaries for participants from low-income countries, supported by Gates Foundation
• Next conference 2012, probably in Africa
Other high profile open access journals relevant to tropical diseases
Open Access and the Developing World
• By providing unrestricted access to research, open access offers an opportunity to enhance scientific knowledge and output in developing countries
• OA provides access to medical and health literature to those directly impacted by the diseases
• BioMed Central operates a waiver fund, enabling researchers in developing countries to publish their work in OA journals without incurring the cost of usual APC
Thank you