Repository Interface for Overlaid Journal Archives (RIOJA) : an overview of work in progress

1. Repository Interface for Overlaid Journal Archives (RIOJA) : an overview of work in progress Panayiota Polydoratou Martin Moyle e-mail: lib-rioja@ucl.ac.uk

2. Outline of the presentation • RIOJA – some project info • Overlay journal model – context & definition attempt • RIOJA aims and methods • Community surveys - some preliminary results • Observations and future work

3. RIOJA – project info • RIOJA - Repository Interface for Overlaid Journal Archives (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/rioja) • Funded by the JISC - Joint Information Systems Committee(http://www.jisc.ac.uk) under the Repositories and Preservation Programme • A 16 months partnership – July 2008 • Researchers from UCL, Cambridge, Glasgow and Imperial • UCL Library Services • Technical staff from Cornell University • Astrophysics and Cosmology our subject domain

4. RIOJA – the context • Impetus came from academic researchers in Astrophysics and Cosmology • Perceptions: • arXiv subject repository is highly important • journals are little-used • and why do subscriptions cost so much? • adding a quality stamp to arXiv deposits would cut out the need for formal publication in journals

5. "Journals are already redundant as a way of distributing research results [in this discipline]" • "How can it cost this much to publish papers in journals?" • "Ultimately a 'journal' should just be a quality mark that appears with a particular online version of an article in an online repository" • Although... • need for Editors (paid?) • career concerns (funders, RAE, promotion boards) • there must be some costs we haven't thought of...? • "the hard part will be getting people involved – as authors, referees and editors – not the technical issues" (All quotations taken from the CosmoCoffee bulletin board, 2005)

6. Overlay journal model – a definition • Term “overlay journal” attributed to Ginsparg (1996), contribution and discussion by Smith (1999) • For RIOJA, an overlay journal model refers to: • journals built on content deposited to and stored in one or more repositories • Quality-assured • Open access • Sustainable

7. RIOJA - aims... • Build the RIOJA toolkit • A set of APIs • some for implementation by a repository, some by a journal • some required (eg author validation, metadata extraction); others optional (eg trackback support) • Construct a demonstrator overlay journal • an implementation of the RIOJA toolkit • arXiv repository • OJS journal software

8. RIOJA – aims… • Recommend a Digital Preservation strategy for content accepted by an arXiv-overlay journal • Supported by life-cycle costing techniques developed by the BL/UCL LIFE Project (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/life) • Sustainability • Estimate the running costs foran arXiv-overlay journal • Identify and appraise cost-recovery options for an arXiv-overlay journal

9. RIOJA - methods • Questionnaire survey to 4,000+ researchers • Selected from top 100 universities and other institutions (THES World Rankings 2006), arXiv and other domain specific discussion lists • Interviews with editorial boards and publishers • What does this community really want from a journal? • Which "value-added" publisher services are really valued? • Which desirable functions are missing? • What factors are critical to the successful academic take-up of an arXiv-overlay journal?

10. Questionnaire survey – Some administrative info • Survey run between June 8th - July 15th, 2007 • Scientists in fields astrophysics and cosmology – hazy boundaries • Top - 100 academic institutions in science • Top - 15 non academic institutions in science • Cosmocoffee subscribers

11. Questionnaire survey – Some demographic characteristics • Contacted 4012 scientists in astrophysics and cosmology • Response from 683 (17% response rate) • A spread of response by role, 24% by professors, 20% by research fellows, lecturers, readers, research assistants/associates • Experienced researchers (46% more than 10 years) • 90% denoted research as their primary responsibility

14. Questionnaire survey – Research and publication • 97% write their research in the form of papers for peer reviewed journals • However, funding processes and RAE influence publication • 3 most preferred journals for publication in top -10 – ISI impact factor

17. Questionnaire survey – arXiv use and expectations of overlay journal model • 80% use the arXiv as first point when looking for new research papers & 53% visit the arXiv on a daily basis • 53% said yes to a new publishing journal model • However: quality, peer review, long term archiving • Money matters • YES: Journal website & archive of back issues, paying scientific editors • NO: print version of journal, paying referees, publisher profits

22. Some observations • Important factors • In general both scientists and publishers contacted were disposed favourably towards the overlay journal model. • Scientific community acceptance • Quality assurance • Peer review process • Sustainability and long term archiving • Traditional copy-editing function remains important to researchers • Visibility of research in indexing services • Not so important factors • Print version of journal • Subscription cost • Journal endorsed by the professional society

23. Future work • Exploring sustainability issues and potential implementations • Writing results from interviews with members of editorial boards/publishers • Costs associated with publishing processes • Is there a business model? • RIOJA meeting – 7 July 2008 (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/rioja/meeting)

24. Further information • Project team: lib-rioja@ucl.ac.uk • Web site: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/rioja • RIOJA meeting: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/rioja/meeting

25. Thank you!

26. References • Ginsparg, P. (1996). Winners and Losers in the Global Research Village. Invited contribution, UNESCO Conference HQ, Paris, 19-23 Feb 1996. Available at: http://xxx.lanl.gov/blurb/pg96unesco.html • Smith, J W T. (1999). The deconstructed journal: a new model for academic publishing. Learned Publishing, Vol. 12 (2), pp. 79-91