Nature’s Open Access Deal

Science Policy Around the Web October 20, 2020

By Dorothy Butler, PhD

Image by kconcha from Pixabay 

Nature family of journals inks first open-access deal with institution

Open access refers to free and open online access to academic information, most typically related to publications. Many journal articles and scientific publications require some type of subscription to be able to access the content of the article. One of the advantages of open-access publishing is that research articles and scientific findings are available to a wider audience, which increases the visibility and potentially the growth of scientific information.

A negotiation between the Nature family of journals and Max Planck Digital Library in Germany led to an arrangement that will allow researchers at institutions across Germany to publish an unlimited number of accepted open access articles. These articles will still have to go through the typical review process but will be immediately available to the public instead of just to those that have a subscription to the Nature group.

Each institution that decides to participate will pay a flat fee that reflects the cost of publishing each paper instead of the typical subscription fees. Often it is the authors that pay the fees for publishing open access articles, but in this deal, it will be the institutions instead. Researchers at the institutions will still have their normal “subscription” access to read the journals in the Nature family.

While this deal is a step in the right direction for proponents of expanding open access options, it is currently limited to those institutions in Germany who can pay the fee associated with this deal. As open access continues to grow, it will be necessary to consider researchers in developing countries or at institutions that cannot afford these fees.

(Jeffrey Brainard, Science)

Science Policy Around the Web – January 8, 2019

By: : Jennifer Patterson-West, Ph.D.

Source: Wikimedia

The world debates open-access mandates

 Plan S is a European-backed program devised to ‘accelerate the transition to full and immediate Open Access to scientific publications’ that is schedule to take effect on January 1^st, 2020.

Open access mandates are not a new concept, 74 research funders in Europe already require that paper be made free at some point. The key difference between these existing mandates, which typically permit a 6- or 12-month delay after publication, and Plan S is that article funded by Plan S will be immediately available.

Shortly after the announcement of the program on September 4^th, 2018, DeltaThink, a U.S. based consulting firm, began estimated the market influence of the program.  They released a news post stating that the initial 11 European funding agencies in the program accounted for roughly 3.3% of articles published in 2017, and their funding represent less than 1% of the approximately $2 Trillian spent globally on Research and Development (R&D). These metrics are not adequate to drive a global shift toward immediate Open Access.

Thus far, 16 funders have formally joined the program, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which was the first participant outside Europe. The program has also drawn support from many scientists that would welcome a transformation of the current system that keeps research publications behind paywalls.

Brian Hitson, the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information which is responsible for the agency’s public access policy has stated, “We don’t anticipate making any changes to our model.”  Current policies implemented by U.S. Federal agencies require that all peer-reviewed paper on funded work be made freely available within 12 months of publications. This policy allows published work to remain behind a paywall after initial publication restricting immediate access to the results.  The U.S. isn’t the only federal research funders that plan to maintain currently policies, both Canada and the Russian Science Foundation have indicated that they do not plan to join Plan S.

However, statements released last month by China’s largest government research funder and two national science libraries supporting the goals outlined by Plan S came as a surprise to many.  China accounts for 18.6% of articles published globally in 2016, more than any other country.  Therefore, a similar Open Access policy in China could have a profound impact on the publishing industry even if China doesn’t formally join Plan S.

Another impending participant is India, the third biggest producer of scientific paper globally. The Principal Scientific advisor to India’s government, Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan, stated that they will “very likely” join Plan S.

As more funding agencies consider joining Plan S, others wait to see how other details of the program are settled.  One concern is the cap on Author Charges that funders will pay for Open Access publications, which Plan S has yet to announce.  If Plan S succeeds in gaining enough support then a shift toward a fairer publishing system and a worldwide transition to Open Access will become more probable.

(Tania Rabesandratana, Science)

 

NIH hospital’s pipes harbored uncommon bacteria that infected patients

 

Last month, a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine written by National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers disclosed that at least 12 patients at the NIH clinical center were infected with Sphingomonas koreensis from 2006 through 2016.

S. koreensis is an uncommon waterborne bacteria previously reported in only two clinical cases. The first report of a S. koreensis as a human pathogen was a case study of a single patient in 2015.

A clustered outbreak of S. Koreensis of six inpatient individuals at the NIH clinical center over a six-month period in 2016 prompted an epidemiological investigation to identify the source of the infection and determine effective intervention strategies.

Isolates from these patients indicated that four patients were infected with multidrug-resistant S.koreensis. Eight additional clinical isolates containing S.koreensis were identified during the investigation dating back to 2006, only one year after the new hospital opened.

Genetic testing of the bacteria indicated that all isolates shared >99.8% identity suggesting a shared reservoir. Extensive testing of facilities found S.koreensis on sink faucets in patient rooms as well as in the water they came out, but not in the municipal water entering the hospital.  To eliminate the reservoir, the free chlorine concentration and hot-water temperature were adjusted resulting in no further infections since December 2016.

Dr. Tara Palmore, one of the NIH researchers, points out that although S. Koreensis is a weak bacterium, it have the potential to cause additional illness in highly immunosuppressed patients.  This outbreak in which three infected patients ultimately died during inpatient treatment demonstrates how even abundant and often nonthreatening bacteria can severely impact the health of immunosuppressed patients.

(Ike Swetlitz, STATnews)

 

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