Open Access, Open Science
Elsevier introduces geographical pricing pilot to support authors in low - and middle- income countries with equitable open access publishing options
Elsevier, Voting Member, Press Release, October 16, 2023
Elsevier, a global leader in scientific publishing and information analytics, today announced that it is piloting Geographical Pricing for Open Access (GPOA) across 142 of its Gold Open Access journals to make open access article publishing charges (APCs) more affordable for authors in low- and middle-income countries.
The GPOA model, a publishing industry first, is set to take effect from January 2024. As part of the pilot, Elsevier will structure its article publishing charges for this subset of journals based on countries’ local economic conditions and average income. By tailoring pricing structures according to Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, a transparent and well-established measure used by many international organisations including Research4Life, Elsevier aims to reduce financial barriers that have traditionally hindered researchers and institutions from low and middle-income countries from publishing the latest research in Gold Open Access journals. Elsevier’s approach to GPOA and country banding based on GNI are outlined on our website. A full list of the journals taking part in this novel pilot can be found here. Elsevier will continue to waive APCs for authors in the lowest economic band and already provides affordable access to over 100,000 peer-reviewed resources for institutions in 120 low- and middle-income countries through Research4Life.
Japan Alliance of University Library Consortia for E-Resources (JUSTICE) and Elsevier strike agreement to accelerate open access publishing in Japan while providing continued access to quality research
Elsevier, Voting Member, Press Release, October 12, 2023
Japan Alliance of University Library Consortia for E-Resources (JUSTICE) and Elsevier have established a transformative agreement in a major step forward in advancing global access to Japan’s scholarly publications through open access publishing. The three-year agreement will take effect from 2024 to 2026.
The agreement, the largest of its kind to date in Japan and Asia, aims to openly share and amplify Japan’s world-class research for the benefit of society.
CCC Releases AI-Enabled Affiliation Matching Software Powering Open Access Publication Modeling and Analysis for Publishers
Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), Voting Member, Press Release, October 10, 2023
CCC, the leading provider of Open Access (OA) workflow solutions, announces new data import capabilities and AI-enabled affiliation matching in its OA Agreement Intelligence modeling and analytics tool that provides publishers with a 360-degree view of disambiguated publication data to build accurate, transparent institutional offers regarding OA.
OA Agreement Intelligence supports the import of publication data from subscriptions and non-RightsLink sources to further enhance the capability to analyze and compare various business scenarios. The solution combines sophisticated, AI-enabled, affiliation-matching technology and analytic capabilities, to reliably disambiguate institution affiliation and funder relationships. This empowers publishers to easily structure and negotiate OA agreements.
Emerging Technologies
Bowker collaborates with DeepZen AI to revolutionize audiobook production in the US
Bowker, Voting Member, Blog Post, October 11, 2023
Bowker, a key player in bibliographic information management announced it has tied up with DeepZen to introduce its cutting-edge audiobook production service to the US author community. This service leverages advanced technology to craft a listening experience that closely mirrors human speech, setting a new standard for the industry. Tailored specifically for audiobooks and long-form content, the platform integrates artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and next-generation algorithms to create a voice sample that is as close to the human voice as ever.
Beat Barblan, General Manager at Bowker, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “DeepZen’s pioneering digital voice solution for audiobooks is exactly the type of practical resource we strive to provide to our customers. We’re excited about the new opportunities this will provide authors – and we’re confident they will be amazed by the results.”
Wolters Kluwer unveils generative AI Labs for UpToDate
Wolters Kluwer, Voting Member, News Announcement, October 3, 2023
Wolters Kluwer Health has launched AI Labs, a collaborative resource that brings the power of generative AI to UpToDate, its market leading clinical decision support (CDS) solution, helping medical professionals make more informed decisions.
UpToDate is used by more than two million users at over 44,000 healthcare organizations in over 190 countries. Medical professionals turn to UpToDate to view over 650 million topics per year. Wolters Kluwer will demonstrate AI Labs and an initial application of generative AI augmenting retrieval of UpToDate clinical content at HLTH 2023.
Research Efforts
Johns Hopkins University Press and NSTA Collaborate to Bring New Instructional Materials to Educators Nationwide
Project Muse/Johns Hopkins, Voting/L.S.A. Member, Press Release, October 11, 2023
Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) have joined together to bring new, free, classroom-ready lesson plans to middle school and high school science and STEM teachers nationwide.
Launched today, the Johns Hopkins Wavelengths: Tuning In to Cutting-edge Sciences lesson plans will connect the pioneering discoveries and solutions of Johns Hopkins researcher-professors to classrooms across the country. These team-based lessons will inspire student curiosity and engagement and increase understanding about some of the world’s most pressing issues and intriguing opportunities. Three of the initial lesson plans in the series, and the books that inspired their development, are now available for download at https://www.nsta.org/jhu-wavelengths.
New Scholars Lab Opens at PCL
University of Texas, Austin, NISO L.S.A. Consortia Member (Amigos), Press Release, October 5, 2023
The University of Texas Libraries announces the official opening of the highly-anticipated Scholars Lab on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
This technology-forward facility represents a significant step in supporting interdisciplinary research, collaboration and innovation for students, faculty and researchers of all levels at The University of Texas at Austin.
New GIS Lab at Heard Libraries provides major computing boost to geospatial visualization and analysis at Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt University, L.S.A. Member, News Announcement, October 5, 2023
The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries have opened a new Geographic Information Systems Lab in Peabody Library that gives Vanderbilt University scholars a significant computing edge in the rapidly growing field of geospatial visualization and analysis. Designed to uncover relationships, trends and patterns in geospatial data, GIS software enables users to model factors that have important implications for society, including the spread of diseases, urban growth, concentrations of poverty, environmental changes, and access to food, potable water and health services.
The GIS Lab broadens access to this powerful proprietary software to the campus community while supporting the Heard Libraries’ goal of advancing transdisciplinary teaching and research through cohesive services. It features 13 new Dell Optiplex SFF 7010 PCs capable of running both ESRI and open-source GIS software. ESRI ArcPro, installed on each machine, is the industry standard for geospatial visualization and analysis, making it an essential tool in fields such as urban planning, environmental management, public health, archaeology, agriculture, and more. STATA, SPSS, NVIVO and Adobe Creative Cloud are also available on select machines.
Research publisher Springer Nature has net-zero targets validated by Science Based Targets initiative
Springer Nature, Voting Member, Press Release, October 5, 2023
Global research publisher Springer Nature Group has today issued a supplement to their 2022 Sustainable Business report, confirming that the SBTi has verified their net-zero science-based targets, and providing additional detail on scope 3 emissions. Taken together, these map out the company’s route to net zero by 2040.
The targets aim for ambitious emissions reductions, in line with the expectations set by the SBTi: this includes a 54.6% emissions reduction target in scope 1 and 2 emissions and 32.5% emissions reduction in scope 3 emissions by 2032. In the longer term, the Group will target a 90% reduction across all scopes by 2040.