Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Being open as an early career researcher
Erin C. McKiernan
Email: emck31@gmail.com
Twitter: @emckiernan13
WWW: emckiernan.wordpress.com
Center for Research in Infectious Diseases,
National Institute of Public Health, México
2014 SPARC Open Access Meeting
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Not all scientists have access
Photo: Delmoral815, via Wikimedia
The National Institute of Public Health is
one of the largest federal research institutes
in Mexico.
∼300 researchers, ∼700 grad students
Our access:
139 journals in total accessible
via institute
88 journals in total with
electronic access
66 journals with electronic
access via paid subscriptions
22 journals with free electronic
access provided by publisher
51 print-only journals (e.g. Cell,
Lancet, Nature, Science)
access to select journals through
consortium (CONRICyT)
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
The high costs of access
Researchers in our center study Chagas’
disease, cholera, dengue, HIV, influenza,
malaria, tuberculosis...
We are trying to save lives!
We do NOT have access to:
Annual Reviews of Medicine
Current Biology
Nature Medicine
Nature Immunology
PNAS
...and MANY more
What is the limiting factor? COST.
Photos: Erwin Huebner (top); Jamas Gathany (middle); C. Goldsmith (bottom)
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
What can I do?
My pledges to be open:
I will not edit, review, or work for closed access journals.
I will blog my work and post preprints, whenever possible.
I will publish only in open access journals.
I will not publish in Cell, Nature, or Science under any
conditions.
I will pull my name off a paper if coauthors refuse to be open.
If I am going to ’make it’ in science, it has to be on terms I can live with.
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Concerns of early-career researchers
If I publish in OA journals:
I will be hiding my work away in less visible (low prestige) journals.
I must relegate my work to low impact (low IF) journals.
Peer review will be of low quality.
I will not get a job/grant/tenure.
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Studies show 25-250% OA citation advantage
Top: Wagner (2010), Issues in Science and Technology
Bottom: Gentil-Beccot, Mele, Brooks (2009), arXiv:0906.5418
Open data gets love too!
Piwowar & Vision (2013), PeerJ 1:e175
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
So you care about Impact Factor?
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
The myth of poor peer review
Retraction rate is highest in high IF subscription journals
No controlled study comparing peer review in subscription vs. OA journals
Bohannon ‘sting’ did not look at peer review in subscription journals
Bohannon ‘sting’ found reputable OA publishers rejected spoof paper
Peer review is often transparent in OA journals
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Hiring, tenure and promotion evaluations...is tide changing?
Faculty and universities have signed DORA,
pledging:
not to consider JIF in hiring,
promotion, or funding decisions
content of a paper will be weighed
more heavily in evaluations than the
journal in which it was published
to consider the value and impact of all
research outputs
VCU Promotion and tenure committees
should recognize that publication and edito-
rial effort in open access, peer-reviewed jour-
nals...offers added value and greater public
good than scholarship made only available
in expensive journal publications.
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Still want to publish in non-OA journals? GO GREEN!
institutional repositories
personal website
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
Don’t sign away your rights!
Author retains:
right to reproduce and distribute
article for non-commercial uses
right to prepare derivative works
from article
right to authorize others to make
non-commercial uses
right to post article on web site
and digital repositories
It allows you to GO GREEN!
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
My advice to ECRs
Make a list of OA journals in your field - know your options
Discuss open access upfront with collaborators
Discuss preprints and self-archiving upfront with collaborators
Document your altmetrics (Impact Story)
Blog about your science - write so those outside your field can understand
Be active on social media to increase visibility
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
How to support ECRs in being open
Lead by example - be open and others
will see benefits
Be receptive - answer emails, tweets,
questions from ECRs about OA
Say yes... to giving tutorials, guest
lectures, talks at meetings
Do not consider where people publish
in making hiring, grant, or tenure
decisions (sign DORA)
Write open access publishing funds
into your grants
Create institution-level incentives for
being open
Photo: listentomyvoice via flickr
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
In sum...Don’t lock up your research!
Credit: John R. McKiernan
Lack of access ECR openness ECR concerns Debunking OA myths Advice to researchers
These are some of the people you will be helping...Thank you!
UPR Cayey INSP México