This week, we highlight the upcoming Year of Open Science Culminating Conference, and we share an opportunity to shape the future of the cOAlition S Towards responsible publishing proposal. We also signpost the ASAPbio Fellows program for preprint advocates. We read about the latest Early Warning Journal List and emerging trends in peer review plagiarism. Finally, we read about the renewed partnership between Crossref and DOAJ to support journals with limited resources, and we watch a short animation on the importance of plain language summaries.
To engage with:
Year of Open Science Culminating Conference via Center for Open Science
The 2023 Year of Open Science Culminating Conference is next week! Co-hosted by the Center for Open Science and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the conference promises an agenda that will unite a range of stakeholders to advance open science policies and practices. Registration for this free conference is now open.
Have your say: Towards responsible publishing survey via Leiden University | 10-minute task
In October 2023, cOAlition S released the Towards responsible publishing proposal for the future of scholarly communication. The proposal called for a move to community-based publishing that enables scholars to openly share their research outputs. To understand the perspectives of the research community, cOAlition S have released a short survey allowing respondents to express their views and shape the future direction of the proposal. The consultation will run until April 2024.
Become an ASAPbio Fellow and preprint advocate via ASAPbio
There is still time to apply for the 2024 ASAPbio Fellows program! Whether you are a preprint newbie or a seasoned veteran, the programme will provide successful fellows with opportunities to explore trends, tools and the outlook for preprints while connecting with fellow preprint advocates. The course runs from April to November with activities taking up to 5 hours per month. Applications are open until 18 March.
To read:
China’s Early Warning Journal List via Nature News | 5-minute read
The Chinese National Science Library has released the latest update of its Early Warning Journal List. The list includes 24 journals deemed to be untrustworthy, predatory or not serving the Chinese research community’s interests. For the first time, journals exhibiting citation manipulation – a tactic through which authors try to falsely inflate their citation counts – are also included on the list. In an interview with Nature News, lead researcher Liying Yang (Director of Scientometrics and Research Evaluation at the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences) explains how suspect journals are identified and the impact the list has on publishers and publication patterns.
Plagiarism in peer review: the tip of the iceberg? via Scientometrics | 20-minute read
After receiving peer review reports that lacked substance, were overly vague and contained multiple language errors, Mikołaj Piniewski (Researcher at Warsaw University of Life Sciences) started to suspect plagiarism. This article explores how Mikołaj and his co-authors identified multiple cases of peer review plagiarism in 50 different articles published in 19 journals. The authors also discuss measures that could prevent peer review plagiarism and the importance of open peer review.
Crossref and DOAJ refocus on metadata via Crossref | 4-minute read
Crossref and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) partnered in 2021 to “encourage the dissemination and use of scholarly research using online technologies … around the world”. Their collaborative effort has already led to successes, including the launch of PLACE – an information resource to support publishers in adopting best practice. From March 2024, the collaboration will shift to focus on metadata. Read more about the updated support for least-resourced journals in this blog post.
To watch:
The importance of plain language in healthcare via YouTube | 2-minute watch
This short animated video from Cactus Life Sciences explains how plain language summaries can help to prevent misinformation and improve public trust in pharmaceutical research, which in turn can lead to better patient outcomes.
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