Abstract

This study focuses on academic institutional repositories as tools that allow us open access to scientific and academic production. Specifically, we analyze the Top 50 European University repositories differentiating, firstly, those repositories linked to Spanish universities compared to those belonging to universities throughout Europe and, secondly, repositories that only include research content as opposed to those that also include teaching content. Specifically, this work complements previous studies on the consolidation of the repositories, focusing on the analysis of the competitive environment by considering their participation and relative visibility shares. The analysis, using competitive maps and comparative advantage method, allows us to identify European university repositories that lead their segments, in terms of their levels of participation and web visibility in the market. In general, without distinguishing by segments, results show that the leadership at European level in terms of participation is held by the University College of London (UK) and the repository of the University of Umea (Sweden) is the leader in visibility.

Abstract

This paper analyses the evolution of Spanish communication research published as scientific articles between 1980 and 2010. It quantifies the volume of this production with two different samples: the first sample includes national journals and offers original and unprecedented data; the second one includes international journals, defined as those indexed by the Web of Science. As a whole, more than 6,000 articles were analysed. Additionally, the collaboration patterns in authorship and internationality were also studied. On the one hand, collaboration was measured through indicators of multiple authorship and the evolution of coauthorship indexes. On the other hand, internationality was measured through the share of Spanish authors in international journals, the weight of international collaborations and the language used in national journals. Data obtained illustrate a growth and maturity process of communication as a scientific discipline: at the end of the period analysed, a tension between growing collaboration and internationalization and traditional publication patterns was found. Through the period studied, the birth of new faculties with communication studies and the growing number of journals have feed the own growth of the number of articles. However, other elements such as scientific assessment have also played a role in the internationalization of authors. As a whole, this article offers a first image of the evolution of communication as an academic discipline in Spain.

Abstract

This work has conducted an analysis of Spanish Communication journals in terms of their level of internationalization and the collaborative models used by their authors, by assessing 1,182 articles published between 2007 and 2011 in the seven toprated Communication journals according to a set of six quality indicators. The ultimate goal has been to perform a data processing in order to detect the degree of inclination of international authors to publish their works in Spanish journals in the years covered by this study. Secondly, the study draws a profile of coauthorship patterns focused on geographical and institutional alliances. The results show there is no clear and convincing signs of evolution towards a desired level of internationality. Concerning coauthorship, although the results indicate a willingness on the part of authors to chart a path of wider geographical and institutional collaboration, unique authorship continues to be the preferred form of publication. Finally, the work shows that investigative alliances are confined to Spain and when they go international collaborations are almost exclusively with Latin American authors.

Abstract

In this paper we review the socalled altmetrics or alternative metrics. This concept raises from the development of new indicators based on Web 2.0, for the evaluation of the research and academic activity. The basic assumption is that variables such as mentions in blogs, number of twits or of researchers bookmarking a research paper for instance, may be legitimate indicators for measuring the use and impact of scientific publications. In this sense, these indicators are currently the focus of the bibliometric community and are being discussed and debated. We describe the main platforms and indicators and we analyze as a sample the Spanish research output in Communication Studies. Comparing traditional indicators such as citations with these new indicators. The results show that the most cited papers are also the ones with a highest impact according to the altmetrics. We conclude pointing out the main shortcomings these metrics present and the role they may play when measuring the research impact through 2.0 platforms.

Abstract

Digital technology led to the emergence of a new economic model for scientific journals: consortial purchasing. This has been a breakthrough, providing library users widespread access to scientific information. In addition, the transition from individual paper subscriptions to electronic joint purchases has meant significant savings in processing costs for libraries. Nonetheless, consortium purchasing is not without problems: cost of journals continues to increase above the CPI, consortial agreements with publishers are inflexible, and pricing models become obsolete as time passes. In this state of impasse, open access appeared (and remains) on the scene, based on the powerful idea that information will be more useful the more easily it flows between its users. On the other hand, academic and research reputations have long been based on cumulated research citations: this is the “original sin” of the current scientific communication system, and until somebody figures out how to build an alternative system our high dependence on journals will persist.

Abstract

Scientific communication faces a number of challenges, many of them not solved by the rise of the Internet: use and presence in social media networks, publication as a measur eof research, open access and its evolution, quality validation, academic marketing and audiovisual content. These challenges are discussed, together with some trends and developments, concluding with the importance of Information Science to solving some of the problems and answering the questions that are generated.