Society for Endocrinology In association with the Biosciences
Federation
Opening the literature or closing journals?
Beyond the polemic on Open Access and your research
How might Open Access affect the way that you gain recognition for
your research? For good or bad, the recent moves by various funding
bodies towards Open Access and repositories will have wide-reaching
effects on you as a researcher: on the journals in which you publish
and which you read; on the societies you belong to and the services
they provide; but also on the way that you share your research with
your peers.
The Open Access debate so far has been characterised by polemic and
by strongly-held opposing views, often with little or no evidence to
underpin them. This has made it difficult, if not impossible, for the
various parties concerned (funders, researchers, universities, publishers)
to work together to establish a robust framework for the future communication
of research results. This is a topic that is too important and too complex
to be left to chance or to be decided by the party that shouts loudest.
The Society for Endocrinology, in association with the Biosciences
Federation, hosted a special symposium within its annual meeting,
at which three of the most innovative speakers on the subject looked
beyond the rhetoric to some of the facts and pragmatic issues that
need to be taken into account, and the implications these might have
for the best ways of moving forward, from your point of view as a
researcher, and from the point of view of your societies and the
journals you currently support.
The symposium was held on Monday 5 March, International
Convention Centre, Birmingham, 12.50-2.10
Opening the literature or closing down journals? Open Access and
your research
Chair: Sue Thorn, Society for Endocrinology
Open
Access: what is it, and how might it affect your society?
Steve Byford,
Publications Director, Society for Endocrinology (ppt) (137kb)
Do
researchers think a move to Open Access would serve their interests
better or worse?
Dr Ian Rowlands, CIBER, University College, London (pdf) (2.68mb)
Is the author
pays model financially viable and does it achieve wider dissemination?
Martin Richardson, Managing Director, Oxford University Press (ppt)
(1.52mb)
Access to the session was included for delegates who had registered
for the Society for Endocrinology BES 2007 conference. Other interested
researchers also attended this session.