[Air-L] Elsevier and academia.edu

Wed Dec 11 20:01:36 PST 2013

No argument here! Academic institutions are famously difficult to change
in the short-term. But yes, we have to keep trying. And,a s I said, some
are changing, so there is hope.

Mary-Helen
-- 
DR MARY-HELEN WARD | Education Design Manager: Sciences Technology and
Business
Sydney eLearning | Office of the DVC Education
THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
T +61 2 9351 7399  | F +61 2 9036 0000  | M +61 402 388424

On 12/12/13 2:57 PM, "Mathieu ONeil" <mathieu.oneil at anu.edu.au> wrote:

>Hi Mary-Helen
>
>... and this meshes also with why we have to incrementally refine the
>meaning of "academic value" to incorporate "open access", by using every
>opportunity to mention "open access" and treat "open access" as necessary
>and important. Eventually the idea that "open access" is as important as
>high-rank will filter up, down and around, including - one devoutly
>wishes - to university management.
>
>cheers
>
>Mathieu
>________________________________________
>From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org [air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org]
>on behalf of Mary-Helen Ward [mary-helen.ward at sydney.edu.au]
>Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2013 14:36
>To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>Subject: Re: [Air-L] Elsevier and academia.edu
>
>Thanks Ben. This expands on my point nicely. It is a rare institution (I
>do know of one or two in Australia) who are brave enough to codify the
>value of 'non-traditional' publication and reward their staff for engaging
>in blogging, tweeting, writing for commentary sites and traditional media,
>and otherwise raising the profile of both the individual's work and the
>institution itself. But usually nothing will count as much as
>highly-ranked journals, not even writing, editing or contributing to books
>or presenting at conferences.
>
>Mary-Helen
>--
>DR MARY-HELEN WARD | Education Design Manager: Sciences Technology and
>Business
>Sydney eLearning | Office of the DVC Education
>THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
>T +61 2 9351 7399  | F +61 2 9036 0000  | M +61 402 388424
>
>
>
>
>On 11/12/13 11:46 AM, "Ben Light" <ben.light at qut.edu.au> wrote:
>
>>The other institutional pressure that come into being here too is the
>>whole issue of University rankings.  For example the Times Higher list
>>incorporates things like citations from journals into their approach
>>(even
>>for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences where they aren't as
>>relevant
>>as to STEM subjects).  This further feeds into the point Mary-Helen makes
>>about why we are 'encouraged' to publish in certain journals. These
>>journals are almost exclusively gated.  Where they are not, there are
>>hefty fees for making the work open access.
>>
>>Also, interestingly, in the UK, research councils are starting to give
>>money to institutions to pay for making gated material open access…  This
>>is because, in the UK, research councils are now, and in my opinion quite
>>rightly, requiring that the research they fund is made available open
>>access. For how long the paying of fees to gated journals will continue,
>>or how sustainable it is, I have no idea.
>>
>>So,there's a whole politic in here regarding the intertwining of
>>commercial interests, open access, University rankings, public/private
>>funding of research, job security etc…
>>
>>Ben
>>Ben Light
>>PhD MSc BA(Hons)
>>Professor of Digital Media Studies
>>
>>Creative Industries Faculty
>>School of Media, Entertainment and Creative Arts
>>Queensland University of Technology
>>Creative Industries Precinct Z1-515
>>Musk Avenue Kelvin Grove
>>QLD 4059 Australia
>>
>>Phone:    +61 7 3138 8280
>>Twitter: @doggyb
>>QUT: http://www.staff.qut.edu.au/staff/lightb
>>Open Access Publications:
>>http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Light,_Ben.html
>>Personal Site: http://www.benlight.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On 11/12/2013 10:25, "Mary-Helen Ward" <mary-helen.ward at sydney.edu.au>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>The UK, Australia and NZ (and possibly other countries that I don't know
>>>about) don¹t have a 'tenure' system. We have a continuing appointment
>>>system, which means you may have a permanent job, subject to certain
>>>conditions. A common condition is that you remain 'research active',
>>>part
>>>of which involves the maintenance of a publication record. This may vary
>>>in detail between institutions and countries, but there is always some
>>>requirement to publish, and often this has to be in journals of a
>>>certain
>>>rank.
>>>
>>>At my institution last year several academics on continuing appointment
>>>received letters asking them to explain why their publication record was
>>>not up the standard expected, and some were offered redundancies or
>>>teaching-only positions as a result of their response.
>>>
>>>Mary-Helen
>>>--
>>>DR MARY-HELEN WARD | Education Design Manager: Sciences Technology and
>>>Business
>>>Sydney eLearning | Office of the DVC Education
>>>THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
>>>T +61 2 9351 7399  | F +61 2 9036 0000  | M +61 402 388424
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On 10/12/13 1:38 AM, "Suely Fragoso" <suely.fragoso at ymail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Hi again. Great and enlightening discussion!
>>>>
>>>>I would like to comment two points:
>>>>
>>>>First, I'm with Daren - why publish with the big companies after
>>>>tenure?
>>>>I confess I never understood the logic of the US academic environment,
>>>>or
>>>>even if and why  the same rules and values apply in Europe, Canada,
>>>>Asia,
>>>>etc. It seems that Latin America is the only exception in a world where
>>>>everybody runs the same tenure system (there are reasons to publish
>>>>with
>>>>the big business here as well,  but I will not bore the majority
>>>>describing what appears to be a strictly regional set of oddities).
>>>>
>>>>It seems that everyone aggrees that open access is better in that it
>>>>makes our work available to a much larger group of readers. However, it
>>>>is not so easy to locate good reliable open access journals that run a
>>>>proper and well intentioned peer review system and  that will not
>>>>surprise us at the end of the reviewing process by charging a
>>>>'publication fee to cover the costs' (I know publishing have costs, I
>>>>have been involved in all parts of the process, from scientific editor
>>>>to
>>>>support in the printing factory. Believe me, the fees are
>>>>disproportionate).
>>>>I remember having heard of a wiki listing open access journals with
>>>>information about their reviewing practices, who is 'behind the
>>>>curtains', etc. Does it exist?  If not, I think it is  time we start
>>>>one.
>>>>
>>>>My second point is why we make our work available in Academia.edu. I
>>>>would say it is because papers in Academia.edu get higher rankings from
>>>>big bad giant Google (I suppose Academia.edu *is* Google. Is it?)
>>>>Ranking
>>>>higher means that more people get to read our work, as Academia.edu
>>>>profits from it but does not charge the reader (or the author). I am
>>>>not
>>>>saying it is good or we can't do better - of course we can. I'm just
>>>>trying to locate what is needed to lead our initiatives to success.
>>>>
>>>>Suely
>>>>
>>>>Enviado do Yahoo Mail no Android
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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