Member News & Announcements, March IO 2021
Research Efforts
IET and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China join to support academic research in China
Institution for Engineering & Technology (IET), Voting Member, Press Release, February 24, 2020
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) to participate in mutually beneficial activities to support the scientific research community in China.
Under the agreement, the two parties will collaborate on activities to support the advancement of scientific research in China and to help to strengthen the ISTIC’s global academic partner network.
The final deliverables will be agreed on a case by case basis but will include training, seminars and workshops on search and analysis techniques.
The IET’s scientific research solutions in Inspec and Inspec Analytics will also be used to further the international reach of Chinese research and publications.
eLife collaborates with Novel Coronavirus Research Compendium on manuscript curation and review
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, Voting Member, Press Release, February 15, 2020
eLife has announced today its collaboration with the Novel Coronavirus Research Compendium (NCRC), a publicly available resource from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, US, that rapidly curates and reviews emerging scientific evidence about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.
Following the significant growth in research outputs relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for an efficient system to help readers navigate new results has become clear. Both eLife and the team behind the NCRC have been working separately on solutions that involve bringing expert peer review and curation to new papers. While eLife evaluates preprints in all areas of biology and medicine as part of its Preprint Review service, the NCRC focuses specifically on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research published either as preprints or in scientific journals. The faculty, fellows, alumni and students behind the Compendium select research for public health action and assign teams of experts to review and summarise the key findings of the papers.
eLife is now working with the NCRC to integrate the Compendium into Sciety, a new platform developed by a team within eLife. Sciety is a growing network where the latest biomedical and life science preprints are transparently evaluated and curated by communities of experts in one convenient place. eLife will set up a dedicated section for the NCRC on Sciety that displays feeds of articles curated by the Compendium’s community and links to a summary of each article hosted on Sciety. These summaries include information such as the article title, DOI link, abstract, version history and evaluations by other communities. Readers can use the NCRC’s dedicated section as a landing page to find the Compendium’s preprint reviews and keep up to date with its latest evaluations. These reviews will be included on Sciety in the same way as those carried out by other communities that review preprints, such as eLife, Peer Community In, PREreview and Review Commons.
Wiley updates author name change policy within research publishing to support a more inclusive publishing environment
John Wiley & Sons, Voting Member, Press Release, February 3, 2021
Wiley has updated its author name change policy, which applies to all research published in its more than 1,700 journals, to support the anonymity of authors who wish to change their name on already-published research. The new policy went into effect on December 18, 2020.
Name change policies make sure that an individual's entire bibliography is attributed to the same name - and since an author's published research is often the basis for their professional growth, ensuring that their name is updated correctly and consistently is essential to both their personal wellbeing and professional success.
Whether it's because of gender identity, religion, or relationship status, changing one's name represents a milestone. However, changing names requires discretion and sensitivity, especially in the case of transgender (including non-binary) authors.
Open Access, Open Science
University Libraries launches open-access Penn State Journal of Medicine
Penn State University Libraries, L.S.A. Member, News Announcement, February 17, 2021
Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing unit recently published the first issue of the Penn State Journal of Medicine. All of the content in the peer-reviewed journal is edited by medical students in the Penn State College of Medicine and published open access, meaning it is freely available under a Creative Commons license.
The journal’s mission is to provide “a means for publication of clinical and medical-based research completed by students enrolled at the Penn State College of Medicine,” as well as “an avenue for students to display their work on a peer-reviewed platform (and receive) the feedback they need to improve the quality of their work in a learning environment,” according to its mission statement.
“The goal in creating this journal has always been twofold,” said Adeel Ahmad, one of four College of Medicine students who serve as founding editors. “We wanted to create an avenue for students to publish peer-reviewed scientific works and, at the same time, develop an environment where our student population can learn firsthand about peer-reviewed clinical research.”
Partnerships
EBSCO Information Services and Knowledge E Partner to Support Libraries Looking to Adopt FOLIO
EBSCO, Voting Member, Press Release, February 18, 2021
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) and Knowledge E have partnered to support libraries adopting the FOLIO Library Services Platform (LSP). EBSCO FOLIO and Knowledge E will work together to provide reliable local hosting and support services.
Knowledge E was established in 2012 and provides libraries in the United Arab Emirates with digital library solutions, training programs, consulting projects and publishing services. By supporting FOLIO libraries, Knowledge E will help support the adoption of FOLIO for their current customers, as well as other research institutions in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in the region. EBSCO provides hosting services and advanced software support, as well as implementation services for libraries adopting the FOLIO LSP through EBSCO FOLIO Services.
Kamran R. Kardan, CEO and Founder of Knowledge E, says that the company’s mission is to impact the knowledge industry through innovative technology. “Our work with EBSCO to provide local hosting services allows us to fulfill our mission and support local institutions who are looking for Open Source solutions, backed by locally provided support and expertise. By joining the FOLIO community, which works first-hand to create cutting-edge library technology, we look forward to bringing our expertise to bear in the UAE and beyond.”
PALCI and ConnectNY Partner with Index Data to Adopt ReShare
Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI), and Index Data, Voting Members, News Announcement, February 11, 2021
Index Data is pleased to announce that the PALCI consortium and ConnectNY (CNY) will adopt ReShare to support their consortial resource sharing programs. The two consortia, both planning to go live this summer, will partner with Index Data for implementation, hosting, and support services.
By choosing ReShare, PALCI and CNY have affirmed their commitment to user-focused resource sharing services and an open, community-led approach to library software development. In addition to adopting the software, both consortia are founding members of the Project ReShare community and have contributed financial and personnel resources to the development of the ReShare product.
PALCI has been involved with Project ReShare since the project’s inception in 2018. The consortium provided $100,000 in seed money to jumpstart user experience development, and PALCI’s Executive Director, Jill Morris, served as the first ReShare steering committee chair from 2018-2020. As PALCI has begun its implementation, additional consortia staff have worked closely with Index Data’s team to provide development partners for integrated library system (ILS) integrations and to help design documentation and implementation workflows.
JSTOR partners with APA to provide psychology books online
ITHAKA/JSTOR/Portico, and American Psychological Association (APA), Voting Members, News Announcement, February 10, 2021
JSTOR is partnering with the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer academic monographs through JSTOR’s ebook program. More than 500 titles are available now, and APA will continue to add new academic titles as they are published.
“Our partnership with the APA significantly expands JSTOR’s library of psychology resources,” said John Lenahan, Associate Vice President, Published Content at ITHAKA, JSTOR’s parent organization. “Researchers can now discover APA’s ebooks alongside a wide range of content in the social sciences and humanities, helping users discover related resources and make new connections across disciplines.”
Financials, Mergers, and Acquisitions
AIP Publishing Acquires University Science Books
AIP Publishing, LLC, Voting Member, News Announcement, February 4, 2021
AIP Publishing, a subsidiary of the American Institute of Physics, has acquired University Science Books (USB), a high-quality publisher of textbooks and course materials for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses that span the physical sciences.
The acquisition supports AIP Publishing’s mission to serve the physical sciences community by expanding its resources for science educators and students. The University Science Books catalog of textbooks by renowned authors such as Donald McQuarrie and John Taylor augments AIP Publishing’s existing portfolio of peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and books.
Springer Nature Group acquires specialist e-learning platform Dentallect
Springer Nature, Voting Member, Press Release, February 4, 2021
Bohn Stafleu van Loghum (BSL), part of Springer Nature Group, has this week completed the acquisition of Dentallect, a Netherlands-based e-learning platform that specialises in training for dental assistants.
Marieke Cambeen, Managing Director of BSL said: “Dentallect’s courses are used in dental practices and vocational institutions across the Netherlands and so is an excellent fit with our existing BSL textbooks business. We are looking forward to extending the platform further.”
University of Toronto Press adds 4,400 ebooks to JSTOR’s EBA program
ITHAKA/JSTOR/Portico, Voting Member, Press Release, February 4, 2021
The University of Toronto Press, a longtime partner in the Books at JSTOR program, has joined JSTOR’s Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) model. It is contributing more than 4,400 backlist ebooks to EBA.
Founded in 1901, University of Toronto Press is one of the largest university presses in North America, with particular strengths in the social sciences, humanities, and business. Its titles record high demand and usage on JSTOR in the disciplines of Language & Literature, History, Political Science, Sociology, and Philosophy, among others.