The scope of open peer review in the scholarly publishing ecosystem

This study explores the selective corpus of existing literature on Open Peer Review (OPR) to understand and map theextent of adoption of OPR in the scholarly communication, the reflection of different aspects of human emotion embeddedin the open peer review reports and authors’ response as well, the influence of OPR reports on citation status of articles, andapplication of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and similar technologies in improving the operational viability as well asacceptability of OPR among the scholarly community. The study finds the emergence of various OPR adoption policies andlevels of adoption together with emerging models of scientific publishing. Clearly, there is a lack of uniform OPR adoptionpolicy. It also highlights the association of different sets of human emotional traits with OPR reports. The experimentationwith the possibility of treating preprint servers and open access repositories as a manuscript marketplace for the eventualselection of articles for open peer review and journal publication is noticed. More research on the influence of humanbehavioural aspects on OPR practice and the application of emergent technologies in OPR would be required before finallysettling down on a stable roadmap for OPR

How to Open up? (Digital) Libraries at the Service of (Digital) Scholars

International audienceThe talk presents the perspective of an organisation, Inria, that has made a strong move towards open science and the dissemination of digital content. We will contemplate the consequences on the development of new services within our institution and show how we move from the development of collections out of externally-provided content to the shaping of a scientist-centred digital library. We will also analyse the technological impact of this policy but also the necessary evolution of the role and skills of our library staff

Data fluidity in DARIAH -- pushing the agenda forward

This paper provides both an update concerning the setting up of the European DARIAH infrastructure and a series of strong action lines related to the development of a data centred strategy for the humanities in the coming years. In particular we tackle various aspect of data management: data hosting, the setting up of a DARIAH seal of approval, the establishment of a charter between cultural heritage institutions and scholars and finally a specific view on certification mechanisms for data

Publication and Evaluation Challenges in Games & Interactive Media

Faculty in the fields of games and interactive media face significant challenges in publishing and documenting their scholarly work for evaluation in the tenure and promotion process. These challenges include selecting appropriate publication venues and assigning authorship for works spanning multiple disciplines; archiving and accurately citing collaborative digital projects; and redefining “peer review,” impact, and dissemination in the context of creative digital works. In this paper I describe many of these challenges, and suggest several potential solutions

Open Access et bibliothèques

Premier titre d’une nouvelle collection de textes numériques, Les Études de l’Enssib, autour de questions vives du monde professionnel, Open Access et bibliothèques, d’Alain Caraco, fait un point très complet sur un enjeu majeur de la recherche et du savoir, la science ouverte. Définition, état des lieux, analyse des obstacles, expériences et projets : vous saurez tout (ou presque) sur l’accès ouvert

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review [version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations]

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research. With the advent of Web technologies, we are now witnessing a phase of innovation and experimentation in our approaches to peer review. These developments prompted us to examine emerging models of peer review from a range of disciplines and venues, and to ask how they might address some of the issues with our current systems of peer review. We examine the functionality of a range of social Web platforms, and compare these with the traits underlying a viable peer review system: quality control, quantified performance metrics as engagement incentives, and certification and reputation. Ideally, any new systems will demonstrate that they out-perform current models while avoiding as many of the biases of existing systems as possible. We conclude that there is considerable scope for new peer review initiatives to be developed, each with their own potential issues and advantages. We also propose a novel hybrid platform model that, at least partially, resolves many of the technical and social issues associated with peer review, and can potentially disrupt the entire scholarly communication system. Success for any such development relies on reaching a critical threshold of research community engagement with both the process and the platform, and therefore cannot be achieved without a significant change of incentives in research environments

A multi-disciplinary perspective on emergent and future innovations in peer review [version 2; referees: 2 approved]

Peer review of research articles is a core part of our scholarly communication system. In spite of its importance, the status and purpose of peer review is often contested. What is its role in our modern digital research and communications infrastructure? Does it perform to the high standards with which it is generally regarded? Studies of peer review have shown that it is prone to bias and abuse in numerous dimensions, frequently unreliable, and can fail to detect even fraudulent research. With the advent of web technologies, we are now witnessing a phase of innovation and experimentation in our approaches to peer review. These developments prompted us to examine emerging models of peer review from a range of disciplines and venues, and to ask how they might address some of the issues with our current systems of peer review. We examine the functionality of a range of social Web platforms, and compare these with the traits underlying a viable peer review system: quality control, quantified performance metrics as engagement incentives, and certification and reputation. Ideally, any new systems will demonstrate that they out-perform and reduce the biases of existing models as much as possible. We conclude that there is considerable scope for new peer review initiatives to be developed, each with their own potential issues and advantages. We also propose a novel hybrid platform model that could, at least partially, resolve many of the socio-technical issues associated with peer review, and potentially disrupt the entire scholarly communication system. Success for any such development relies on reaching a critical threshold of research community engagement with both the process and the platform, and therefore cannot be achieved without a significant change of incentives in research environments

Chancen und Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung in Kleinverlagen

Der Medienbereich gilt als ein bereits frühzeitig von Digitalisierung betroffener Wirtschaftssektor. Einst bedeutende Akteure und Publikationen, wie etwa die Encyclopedia Britannica oder die Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, haben sich fundamental verändert und sind heute unter anderer Trägerschaft vollständig digital verfügbar. Gleichzeitig haben elektronische Repräsentationsformen das physische Medium nicht vollständig verdrängt, und das traditionelle Buch sowie Zeitschriften sind auch weiterhin in Print-Varianten gefragt. Zur Bewältigung der Transformation von einem klassischen Verlagshaus zu einem Unternehmen der Digitalwirtschaft haben mittlerweile insbesondere größere Verlage umfassende sowie ressourcenintensive Programme zur Anpassung von Geschäftsmodellen, Geschäftsprozessen, Inhalten sowie den notwendigen Informationssystemen initiiert. Offensichtlich ist dieses Vorgehen für die zahlreichen kleineren unabhängigen Verlage, infolge der begrenzten Mittel, nicht möglich. Gleichzeitig müssen Kleinverlage mit größeren Verlagen im Markt konkurrieren. Als Vorteil gilt dabei, dass klein- und mittelständische Unternehmen weniger interne Trägheitskräfte und Reibungsverluste aufweisen, sodass sie häufig die Originalität und Vielfalt auf dem deutschen Buchmarkt prägen. Vielfach adressieren sie jedoch Nischenmärkte und können aufgrund der begrenzten Auflagenzahlen nur geringere Skaleneffekte generieren. Ebenso bestehen bezüglich der Nutzung neuer Repräsentationsformen und Vertriebskanäle nicht nur finanzielle Defizite zur Beschaffung der notwendigen digitalen Infrastrukturen, sondern auch personelle Engpässe zur konzeptionellen Gestaltung und Umsetzung in der digitalen Transformation. Analog zur Entwicklung in anderen Branchen, etwa der bereits stark vernetzten Automobilindustrie, kann die Digitalisierung als Katalysator der überbetrieblichen Kooperation wirken. Die verstärkte Zusammenarbeit mit weiteren spezialisierten Dienstleistern im Bereich der digitalen Medienproduktion oder des digitalen Marketings bietet Kleinverlagen die Möglichkeit einerseits ihre Defizite zu kompensieren und andererseits ihre Kernkompetenzen beizubehalten