Abstract

Open access implementation seems to have reached a plateau in many countries, and as a result the push for open science frequently places more emphasis on research data management. There are, however, whole areas around the open communication of research outputs which can still benefit from significant improvement. One of the most obvious is a better codification of the funding information in the bibliographic records for publications in repositories. While the emphasis has traditionally been to collect as many full-text records as possible about institutional and subject-based repositories, the typical way the funding information for publications is being coded into metadata records remains very poor, or is absent altogether. This paper argues that this is a key area for research impact assessment and improvement. It’s also argued that such an improvement needs solid housekeeping on the research funders’ side, possibly based on new and evolving standards. A few different approaches to capture and display the funding information in metadata records in an optimal fashion are discussed.

Abstract

With the recent launch of a number of F1000-based open research platforms, research funders like Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Irish Health Research Board are stepping up their attempt to shift the scholarly publishing landscape into a more suitable environment for the implementation of their open science policies. Weeks ago, the European Commission released the call for bids for its Open Research Europe, thus joining this potentially game-changing move towards open peerreview, article-level metrics, pre-prints, and tighter control of publishing by Academia. This text examines the various objectives of these platforms and argues that this well-aimed move may not succeed if it fails to persuade researchers of the value of such publishing outlets. There is a clear role for institutions, whose open science advocacy strategies towards their authors can be adjusted to include the dissemination and promotion of such platforms.