Scholarly Communication

Social media are increasingly perceived as powerful drivers of change for research practices, in terms of openness, sharing and sociability. Numerous studies have reported benefits and factors affecting the progressive adoption of these sites especially for scholarly communication. However, extensive studies that are carried out with large samples at a national level are still rare. This chapter reports the results of a survey addressed to Italian academic scholars, the purpose of which was to identify frequency and way of use of a number of social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, YouTube, Vimeo, SlideShare, Blogs and Wikis). The study aims at providing evidence on how academic scholars are using social media for scholarly purposes, also by taking into account a number of factors such as gender, age, years of teaching, academic title, and field of knowledge. It also investigates the most valuable tools and the main reasons for use in academic practices. Results of quantitative and qualitative analysis are provided along with considerations for further research.

In the fast developing world of scholarly communication it is good to take a step back and look at the patterns and processes of innovation in this field. To this end, we have selected 101 innovations (in the form of tools & sites) and graphically displayed them by year and also according to 6 phases of the research workflow: collection of data & literature, analysis, writing, publishing & archiving, outreach and assessment. This overview facilitates discussion on processes of innovation, disruption, diffusion, consolidation, competition and success, but also of failure and stagnation, over the last 3 decades. We describe some of the trends, expectations, uncertainties, opportunities and challenges within each of the workflow phases. Also, based on the graphical overview we present a juxtaposition of typical traditional, innovative and experimental workflows.

The academic file sharing website Sci-Hub is used all over the world. Is Sci-Hub affecting interlibrary loan usage? We use two statistical methods to investigate possible effects, and offer general observations on article download patterns in the U.S.

While there are new and enabling conditions for university presses to increase production and to widen distribution, the question remains: How can African university presses make the most of these opportunities? Most likely, the answer lies in deploying the technological changes in production, distribution and marketing made possible by digitisation and network effects of the internet.

At the same time, propelled by a growing perception in academia of ‘robber capitalism’ on the part of publishers as they protect their oligopoly in the face of dissolving spatial barriers and diminishing value add, we are witnessing a contrary trend: the emergence of the knowledge commons. However, this emergence takes place in an institutional context long dominated by an editorial logic and, in more recent times, by the logic of the market.

A holistic way of approaching the question of how African university presses can reposition themselves in support of the broader shift of some African universities towards a greater focus on research, is to consider shifts in the dominant institutional logic in the academic publishing industry. Based on a baseline survey of university presses in Africa, in-depth case studies of selected university presses, and an analysis of the publishing choices made by African academics, this research project examined the opportunities and constraints faced by university presses in Africa.

It provides an overview of the African university press landscape and shows that there is a small, active group of university presses. University presses in Africa are not yet making use of technological advances to reconfigure their production, distribution and marketing processes, nor are they experimenting with new publishing models such as open access. While case studies of selected university presses surfaced unsurprising challenges (such as scarce resources and limited capacity), they also show that university presses in Africa are constrained by institutional logics that are holding them back from experimenting with new ways of doing things.The research also reveals that an alarmingly high number of academic authors at one flagship research university in Africa are choosing to publish monographs with predatory publishers. The report concludes with a set of pragmatic recommendations; recommendations that are simultaneously attuned to the opportunities and to the realities of African university presses as revealed by the research conducted.

The paper captures the concept and background of Open Access (Open Access) as well as the gains. Librarians as information gatekeepers are enjoined to register in the advocacy of OA in a bid to promote scholarly communication and also aid in the building of institutional repositories. Self-archiving (green access) and Open Access Journals (gold access) as proposed by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) are unleashed. The paper further brings up some of the access tools and services to open access as reflected in the topic. The paper concludes by capturing the ongoing call for open access movement by librarians in Nigeria and raising awareness among scholars, about self-archiving and open access journals.

The main theme of the 18th International Conference on Electronic Publishing (ELPUB) is the openness and use of research data as well as new and innovative publishing
paradigms. Specifically, it aimed to bring together presentations and discussions that demonstrate the role of cultural heritage and service organizations in the creation, accessibility, curation and long term preservation of data. We aimed to provide a forum for discussing appraisal, citation and licensing of research data. Also, what is new with reviewing, publishing and editorial technology in a data-centric setting?
ELPUB brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss data mining, digital publishing and social networks along with their implications for scholarly communication,
information services, e-learning, e-businesses, the cultural heritage sector, and other areas where electronic publishing is imperative.
ELPUB 2014 received 32 paper submissions. The peer review process resulted in the acceptance of 13 research papers and 9 posters. These papers were grouped into sessions based on the following topics: Open Access and Open Data; Know the Users
Better: Researchers and Their Needs; Specialized Content for Researchers; Publishing and Access; Practical Aspects of Electronic Publishing.

The conference held 2 pre-conference workshops and one tutorial on June 18. Andreas Rauber and Kresimir Duretec (Technical University of Vienna, Austria) led the
tutorial “Digital Preservation Lifecycle: from challenges to solutions”. Pierre Mounier (EHESS/OpenEdition, France) and Victoria Tsoukala (National Documentation Centre,
Greece) led the workshop “Non-profit Open Access ventures of significant scope in Europe” and Carla Basili (Sapienza University in Rome, Italy) led the workshop “Information
Literacy in the context of scientific information”.

The main program on June 19–20 features two keynotes. Herbert van de Sompel (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA) will deliver a keynote entitled “Towards Robust
Linking and Referencing for Web-Based Scholarly Communication”. Mahendra Mahey (British Library Labs, UK) will deliver a keynote entitled “How the British Library’s
Digital Scholarship department is putting data to use for researchers through its Digital research Team and British Library Labs project”.