Featuring the metamorphosis of clinical trial reporting in BioMed Central (BMC) journals, an update on the #nodealnoreview campaign and a visualization of open access infrastructure in Canada.
The metamorphosis of BMC’s reporting on clinical trials via The Guardian
This week, BMC launched a new system for the reporting of clinical trials: the registered report. This bold new policy, whereby BMC journals commit to publishing the results of any clinical trial regardless of outcome, has been devised to combat publication bias and outcome switching.
An update on #nodealnoreview via No deal, no review
Elsevier responds to the #nodealnoreview campaign launched by Finnish academics to protest the rising cost of academic publishing. The letter and the campaign’s response to it are available on the ‘No deal, no review’ website.
Norway sets national open access targets via Science Library Pad
Norway has joined the ranks of national governments in setting targets for open access on publicly funded research; their goals are laid out on Science Library Pad.
Investigating the open access citation advantage via ScienceOpen
Looking at data on the citation advantages for papers published open access; this ScienceOpen collection of articles provides important evidence to encourage researchers to embrace open access publishing.
Who is responsible for the enduring problems with scholarly publishing? via Medium
An article examining the self-perpetuating nature of the flaws of scholarly publishing by breaking the system down into its constituent groups and looking at how each contributes to the continuation of the flawed system we currently have. The article highlights the elevated agency of funders to promote positive change in publishing practices.
What stops articles from being published? via Academic Medicine
A breakdown of the various reasons Academic Medicine editors have given to reject papers in the initial screening process, the stage before traditional peer review. An engaging read for those interested in understanding why some research is difficult to publish and the role of journals in dictating what should and shouldn’t be shared.
The publishing bias against preprinted research via Times Higher Education
This article reports on a peer reviewer’s shock at the rejection of preprinted papers where previously disclosed but paywalled research was deemed acceptable. The article’s author has since stopped conducting reviews for the journal in question in light of this active discrimination against open science practices.
Structuring open science via Science Library Pad
This infographic, produced as part of the Working in the Open programme, sets out the structure for the Canadian Government’s Open by Default project.
