Monitoring Compliance with Open Access policies

In the last few years, academic communities have seen an increase in the number of Open Access (OA) policies being adopted at the institutional and funder levels. In parallel to policy implementation, institutions and funders have also been engaged in developing mechanisms to monitor academics and researchers compliance with the existing OA policies. This study highlights a few of the cases where compliance is being effectively monitored by institutions and funders. In the first section, Open Access is briefly overviewed and the rationale for monitoring OA policy compliance is explained. The second section looks at best practices in monitoring policy compliance with OA policies by funders and institutions. The case studies reflect on compliance with the UK Funding Councils and the USA National Institutes of Health OA policies. The third section makes recommendations on what processes and procedures universities and funders should adopt to monitor compliance with their OA policies. The final section recapitulates some of the key ideas related to monitoring policy compliance

Monitoring Compliance with Open Access policies

In the last few years, academic communities have seen an increase in the number of Open Access (OA) policies being adopted at the institutional and funder levels. In parallel to policy implementation, institutions and funders have also been engaged in developing mechanisms to monitor academics and researchers compliance with the existing OA policies. This study highlights a few of the cases where compliance is being effectively monitored by institutions and funders. In the first section, Open Access is briefly overviewed and the rationale for monitoring OA policy compliance is explained. The second section looks at best practices in monitoring policy compliance with OA policies by funders and institutions. The case studies reflect on compliance with the UK Funding Councils and the USA National Institutes of Health OA policies. The third section makes recommendations on what processes and procedures universities and funders should adopt to monitor compliance with their OA policies. The final section recapitulates some of the key ideas related to monitoring policy compliance

Burden of respiratory disease among paediatric patients infected with HIV/AIDS

HIV is a prominent infection in society and its health implications are seen in the paediatric wards daily. Despite its multi-system effect on the body, it particularly results in many respiratory infections. Effective understanding of the disease profile and management of patients with HIV relies on correct statistics and proper use of resources. Since the introduction of anti-retrovirals in 2004 in South Africa, the impact of HIV/AIDS on respiratory disease needs to be re-evaluated. The purpose of the study is to understand the disease profile of children with HIV/AIDS with regard to the presence of respiratory conditions with which they present, the need for chest physiotherapy and their health status. Of the 125 patients recruited in this study 55% were boys, average age was 20.55 months (SD= 23.64), average length of hospital stay of 2 ½ weeks (mean=18.76, SD=19.19), 80% discharged and 9.6% died. The most common respiratory conditions presented included bacterial pneumonia (66.4%), tuberculosis (48%) and pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (23.2%). The least common condition was lymphoid interstitial pneumonitis (4.8%). Two thirds of the children (68.8%) presented with a high burden of disease. Physiotherapy treatment was indicated for 96% of the patients mainly due to excess secretions and poor air entry. About forty percent (40.8%) of children were taking anti-retrovirals with an average length of use of 9.81 months (SD=11.61). Three out of four (75%) mothers were not involved in a PMTCT program. The analysis of immune status revealed a mean CD4 percentage 17.33% (SD=10.96), CD4 absolute 631.36 cell/mm3 (SD=610.36) and viral load 2.6 million copies /ml (SD=9.08 million copies/ml). A higher burden of disease was related to the use of anti-retrovirals, a lower immunity, female patients, longer length of hospital stay and incidences of mortality occuring at later periods of hospital stay. Results of this study highlight the characteristics of respiratory disease burden among children with HIV in a South African setting in a post HAART era

A prospective survey in European Society of Cardiology member countries of atrial fibrillation management: baseline results of EURO bservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot General Registry

Aims: Given the advances in atrial fibrillation (AF) management and the availability of new European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines, there is a need for the systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF in ESC member countries. Methods and results: We conducted a registry of consecutive in- and outpatients with AF presenting to cardiologists in nine participating ESC countries. All patients with an ECG-documented diagnosis of AF confirmed in the year prior to enrolment were eligible. We enroled a total of 3119 patients from February 2012 to March 2013, with full data on clinical subtype available for 3049 patients (40.4% female; mean age 68.8 years). Common comorbidities were hypertension, coronary disease, and heart failure. Lone AF was present in only 3.9% (122 patients). Asymptomatic AF was common, particularly among those with permanent AF. Amiodarone was the most common antiarrhythmic agent used (~20%), while beta-blockers and digoxin were the most used rate control drugs. Oral anticoagulants (OACs) were used in 80% overall, most often vitamin K antagonists (71.6%), with novel OACs being used in 8.4%. Other antithrombotics (mostly antiplatelet therapy, especially aspirin) were still used in one-third of the patients, and no antithrombotic treatment in only 4.8%. Oral anticoagulants were used in 56.4% of CHA 2DS2-VASc = 0, with 26.3% having no antithrombotic therapy. A high HAS-BLED score was not used to exclude OAC use, but there was a trend towards more aspirin use in the presence of a high HAS-BLED score. Conclusion: The EURObservational Research Programme Atrial Fibrillation (EORP-AF) Pilot Registry has provided systematic collection of contemporary data regarding the management and treatment of AF by cardiologists in ESC member countries. Oral anticoagulant use has increased, but novel OAC use was still low. Compliance with the treatment guidelines for patients with the lowest and higher stroke risk scores remains suboptimal. © The Author 2013

PASTEUR4OA’s Knowledge Net

Working Together to Promote Open Access Policy Alignment in Europ

Open Access in the UK Briefing on the UK Open Access Case Study

Open Access (OA) policies have been adopted at the national, institutional and funder levels in the UK and various infrastructural support mechanisms are available to facilitate open access. In July 2012, following an independent study on ‘Accessibility, sustainability, excellence: how to expand access to research publications’ the UK Government announced its OA policy. The Government’s policy determines that ‘support for publication in open access or hybrid journals, funded by Article Processing Charges (APCs), [i]s the main vehicle for the publication of research’. At the same time that the UK Government announced its OA policy, the UK’s major research funder, the Research Councils UK (RCUK), revised its OA policy announcing its ‘preference for immediate [Gold] Open Access with the maximum opportunity for re-use’. In March 2014, the UK Funding Councils announced their OA policy for the post-2014 Research Evaluation Framework (REF). The policy requires the deposit of peer-reviewed article and conference proceedings in repositories (Green OA) and is applicable from 1 April 2016. By and large, two distinct OA routes are being promoted by the UK Government and RCUK (Gold OA) and the Funding Councils (Green OA). This scenario requires that continued efforts are made to ensure that advice and support are provided to universities, academic libraries and researchers on the distinct OA policies and on policy compliance. The UK research institutions have been adopting OA policies from as early as 2003 and there currently are 85 institutional OA policies. Despite distinct OA policies having been adopted by policymakers, national research funders and research institutions, the UK’s movement towards OA has been a result of stakeholders coordinated efforts and is considered to be a case of good practice

Open Access to scientific information: facilitating knowledge transfer and technological innovation from the academic to the private sector

This briefing paper explores the key role that Open Access to scientific information plays not only in contributing to the transfer of knowledge from the academic to the private sector but also to the development of new or the improvement of existing products, processes and services, and to the establishment of new collaborations that help to address key societal challenges

Monitoring Compliance with Open Access policies

In the last few years, academic communities have seen an increase in the number of Open Access (OA) policies being adopted at the institutional and funder levels. In parallel to policy implementation, institutions and funders have also been engaged in developing mechanisms to monitor academics and researchers compliance with the existing OA policies. This study highlights a few of the cases where compliance is being effectively monitored by institutions and funders. In the first section, Open Access is briefly overviewed and the rationale for monitoring OA policy compliance is explained. The second section looks at best practices in monitoring policy compliance with OA policies by funders and institutions. The case studies reflect on compliance with the UK Funding Councils and the USA National Institutes of Health OA policies. The third section makes recommendations on what processes and procedures universities and funders should adopt to monitor compliance with their OA policies. The final section recapitulates some of the key ideas related to monitoring policy compliance

PASTEUR4OA's Knowledge Net: Working Together to Promote Open Access Policy Alignment in Europe

This briefing paper introduces the Knowledge Net, a network established as part of the PASTEUR4OA project framework that seeks to promote and advance the implementation of OA policies across Europe. The paper discusses the aims, objectives and achievements of the Knowledge Net and the next steps