Best Practice on Accessibility Alma Swan Key Perspectives Ltd, Truro, UK University of Southampton (School Electronics & Computer Science) Warwick Business School Awayday for Research Institute Directors, 25 October 2007 University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland

Metrics Yes, they are the promised basis of future RAEs Some idea already of what that might mean Will obviously have to play the RAE game Plenty more metrics to be developed Universities should be thinking about this and deciding what will be informative to measure in future Key Perspectives Ltd

The bases for assessment Need something to measure from Starting point: CRIS data Next point: research outputs Between them: provide a complete picture of research activity in an institution Key Perspectives Ltd

Raw material collection Where from? What? Where ? How? Will it be easy? What is the price of failure? Key Perspectives Ltd

Raw material collection Where from? The creators of the outputs What? Open Access material (i.e. outputs in a form that you are permitted to collect and store locally) Key Perspectives Ltd

Open Access: How? Open Access journals ( Open Access repositories (author self-archiving) Key Perspectives Ltd

Raw material collection Where from? The creators of the outputs What? Open Access material (i.e. outputs in a form that you are permitted to collect and store locally) Where ?The institutions repository How?By implementing a policy Will it be easy? Yes (and no) What is the price of failure? Obscurity Key Perspectives Ltd

The U.Southampton conundrum… Key Perspectives Ltd The G-Factor rankings (universitymetrics.com)

The creators of the outputs Largely uninformed and unaware Some have realised the benefits themselves Research funders are assisting (Some) Research publishers are also assisting Vast majority want clear policies Most people appreciate some help Key Perspectives Ltd

Author experience so far Only 24% of authors have submitted an article to an Open Access journal Only 22% have self-archived in their institutional repository Key Perspectives Ltd

Self-archiving rates Key Perspectives Ltd

Interoperable repositories Key Perspectives Ltd

But … Still only 15% of research is Open Access Key Perspectives Ltd

How to increase repository content Harvest from websites Harvest from OA journals Provide mediated deposit Put policy in place that ensures the creators do most of the work Key Perspectives Ltd

Policies, and mandatory policies Policy from the NIH (USA) Mandatory policy from Wellcome Trust Mandatory policies from 6 of 7 UK research councils Mandatory policies from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Medical Research Council An almost-mandate from the DFG and Max Planck Gesellschaft, Germany An almost-mandate from the FWF, Austria Dutch policy for the universities in the DARE network National policy being developed in Sweden Policy from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, etc Key Perspectives Ltd

Data courtesy of Arthur Sale Key Perspectives Ltd

Data courtesy of Arthur Sale Key Perspectives Ltd

Data courtesy of Arthur Sale Key Perspectives Ltd

Author readiness to comply with a mandate 81% 14% 5% Key Perspectives Ltd

Case study I: ECS, Southampton School of Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton Mandate early 2003 Sanctioned in the sense that assessment is based upon repository content It works Key Perspectives Ltd

Case study II: Minho University Minho University, Braga, Portugal Repository established 2003 Mandate introduced 2005 when self-archiving rate dropped off Mandate backed by financial incentives paid to departments Key Perspectives Ltd

Minho University repository Mandate introduced (Data courtesy of Eloy Rodrigues) Key Perspectives Ltd

Case study III: QUT QUT, Brisbane Mandate introduced by DVC Tom Cochrane at the beginning of 2004 Not sanctioned, but supported by vigorous and sympathetic library advocacy Key Perspectives Ltd

Carrot-and-stick approach Carrot(s): Explicit reward (money, RAE return, etc) Advocacy on the use of a repository Information on visibility Information on impact Practical help Stick: find the right way to say You will… Key Perspectives Ltd

An institutional repository provides researchers with: The means to disseminate their work, free, to the world Secure storage (for completed work and for work-in-progress) A location for supporting data that are unpublished One-input-many outputs (CVs, publications) Tool for research assessment e-science domain Key Perspectives Ltd

Atkins report The primary access to the latest findings in a growing number of fields is through the Web, then through classic preprints and conferences, and lastly through refereed archival papers. Key Perspectives Ltd

Visibility Self-archiving …. has given instant world-wide visibility to my work. As a result, I was invited to submit papers to refereed international conferences/journals and got them accepted. Key Perspectives Ltd

Impact Key Perspectives Ltd Range = 36%-200% (Data: Stevan Harnad and co-workers)

Measure usage and impact (Citebase) Key Perspectives Ltd

Practical help Copyright (SHERPA RoMEO) Key Perspectives Ltd

Publisher permissions (by journal) Key Perspectives Ltd

Practical help Copyright (SHERPA RoMEO) Mediation Reminders Key Perspectives Ltd

The stick… Institution-wide (best, obviously) Patchwork mandate (Arthur Sale) Should be backed up by monitoring Key Perspectives Ltd

Mandate when? At acceptance for publication: the authors final version Mandate the deposit at that point Mandate OA to full-text unless there is a compelling reason against this If there is a compelling reason, mandate OA to metadata Mandate opening of full-text at 6 months The publishers PDF can be added, or linked to, later Key Perspectives Ltd

Summary Policies nice but largely ineffectual Mandates work and so increasing Be smart about how they are implemented Deposit at acceptance (peer reviewed): Open metadata immediately Open full-text later if necessary Deposit authors final version; add published version later if desired Key Perspectives Ltd

Author readiness to comply with a mandate 81% 14% 5% Key Perspectives Ltd

Thank you for listening Key Perspectives Ltd