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Making possible the overlay journal: the RIOJA project

Making possible the overlay journal: the RIOJA project. Martin Moyle Digital Curation Manager UCL Library Services, UK lib-rioja@ucl.ac.uk. XXVII Annual Charleston Conference, 7-10 November 2007. Outline. Introductions to RIOJA and overlay journals Background to RIOJA Project aims

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Making possible the overlay journal: the RIOJA project

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  1. Making possible the overlay journal: the RIOJA project Martin Moyle Digital Curation Manager UCL Library Services, UK lib-rioja@ucl.ac.uk XXVII Annual Charleston Conference, 7-10 November 2007

  2. Outline • Introductions to RIOJA and overlay journals • Background to RIOJA • Project aims • Early findings • Next steps

  3. RIOJA • RIOJA - Repository Interface for Overlaid Journal Archives • 15-month project, to June 2008 • Funded by the JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), UK • Partnership of academic researchers and librarians • Working within the Astrophysics and Cosmology subject domain, but outputs will be reusable in other disciplines • Exploring various aspects of overlay journals

  4. Overlay journals • For RIOJA purposes, an overlay journal is: A quality-assured journal whose content is deposited to and resides in one or more open access repositories • Repositories can fulfil most of the basic functions of a journal (registration, awareness, archiving) • The primary role of the overlay journal is to add certification to repository content • A cost-effective way of disseminating research findings? • Much discussed, few exemplars.

  5. Background – academic perceptions • RIOJA originated in discussion among Astrophysics researchers • arXiv repository is of everyday importance, whereas little use is made of journals • "Journals are already redundant as a way of distributing research results” • Costs...? • “How can it cost this much to publish papers in journals?” • Peer review is valued, but some resentment of need to engage with publication process • “Ultimately a ‘journal’ should just be a quality mark that appears with a particular version of an article in an online repository” • RIOJA is following up some of these issues Quotes from CosmoCoffee Bulletin Board, 2005

  6. RIOJA - aims... • A technical toolkit • To support quality-marking of repository content (in any discipline) • Aset of APIs to manage interactions between a repository and journal management software • More at http://cosmologist.info/xml/APIs.html • Construct a demonstrator overlay journal • An implementation of the RIOJA toolkit • arXiv repository • OJS journal software

  7. RIOJA - aims... • Questionnaire survey of astrophysics researchers • Are journals really redundant in this discipline? • What does this community want from a journal? Which "value-added" services are valued? • What factors would be critical to the successful academic take-up of an arXiv-overlay journal?

  8. RIOJA – aims... • Sustainability • What are the costs? • Is there a business model? • To be pursued through discussion with editors and publishers, supported by survey findings and the literature • Is a successful overlay journal feasible in this discipline?

  9. Questionnaire survey: some (very!) early findings... • Contacted 4012 scientists in Astrophysics • Selected from top 100 universities and other institutions (THES World Rankings 2006) • 683 respondents - 17% response rate • Demographics: • 90% are engaged primarily in research • 46% have over 10 years experience in research • 32% have 0-5 years experience

  10. What do they do with their research? • 97% write up research as papers for peer reviewed journals • Average output: 6.5 papers per year • Journal choice influenced by: • Perceived quality of journal by scientific community • High journal impact factor • Being kept up to date during the refereeing process

  11. Importance of arXiv? • 93% deposit papers into arXiv • 53% access arXiv daily; another 24% do so weekly • After arXiv discovery, 7% always prefer to seek final published version • But in general, 443 (65%) may use journal Web sites to follow up interesting titles/abstracts; 610 (89%) may use arXiv for this

  12. Money matters • Where should the money come from? • YES: research funders, library subscriptions • NO: author pays on submission • Where should it go? • YES: journal Web site; maintaining on-line archive of back issues; paying scientific editors • NO: print version of journal; paying referees; publisher profits

  13. Reaction to the overlay model • 53% very supportive (35% interested; 6% dismissive...) • 80% would referee for an overlay journal • 26% willing to serve in Editorial capacity • 33% would submit papers without hesitation • Factors which would encourage others to submit: • Submissions from other researchers / senior researchers • Quality of other papers • Reputation of Editor/Editorial Board • Transparent peer review process

  14. Recurring themes • Quality of accepted papers • Perceived quality and community standing of journal • Importance of long-term archiving • Much interest in the peer review process - although no consensus • Little enthusiasm for print

  15. Next steps • Full survey report will be released soon (via Web site) • Toolkit and demonstrator due in December • Interviews with members of editorial boards/publishers • "Making possible the overlay journal"... • Technically achievable • Cost recovery – need to find the right model • Are repositories sustainable? • Sustained academic credibility? • Planning a 1-day conference, London, June 2008

  16. Thank you • Project team: lib-rioja@ucl.ac.uk • Web site: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ls/rioja

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