Advocating for Reproducibility

As guest editors, we are excited to publish this special double issue ofIASSIST Quarterly. The topics of reproducibility, replicability, and transparency have been addressed in past issues of IASSIST Quarterly and at the IASSIST conference, but this double issue is entirely focused on these issues

The Impact of Transformative Agreements on Publication Patterns: An Analysis Based on Agreements from the ESAC Registry

"Transformative agreements" are agreements made between publishers and institutions that were intended to transform the traditional subscription-based scholarly publishing system to open access. Some publishers and institutions have argued that these are the best option, yet, they are increasingly being called into question. Not only does the transition remain incomplete, they create negative effects on researchers without access to an agreement or funding to pay an article processing charge. This research project sought to address the question of whether transformative agreements increase the number of open access publications. In April 2022, we retrieved 370 transformative agreements from the ESAC Transformative Agreement Registry, of which 72 met our inclusion criteria. At that time, agreements in the ESAC Registry were heavily weighted towards Europe. We retrieved publications from the Web of Science Core Collection, and screened these to ensure that they were authored by researchers at participating institutions and published in hybrid open access journals covered by the agreement. Using the Unpaywall API, we determined the open access status of each item. Through this process, we identified 156,053 publications that met inclusion criteria. In this article, we examine changes in publication patterns at an aggregate level and per agreement

Grey Literature: Use, Creation, and Citation Habits of Faculty Researchers across Disciplines

INTRODUCTION Grey literature is ephemeral, and the level to which it is created, used, and cited by faculty, graduate students, and other researchers is not well understood. METHODS This electronic survey was distributed to a sample (57%) of the faculty across a wide variety of disciplines with the only criteria based on tenure and tenure-track faculty at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, a large R1 institution. RESULTS Faculty across disciplines both use and create grey literature for several reasons, including its far more rapid publication process. DISCUSSION Many faculty in a wide variety of disciplines are using and creating grey literature. The survey illustrates the different types of grey literature that are being used and for what purpose. Other topics, such as how faculty are finding grey literature (via Google Scholar and professional contacts), whether they are citing it, and which types they create (e.g., conference papers, preprints, technical reports) are also discussed. CONCLUSION As a result of this survey, librarians can provide support for faculty who use and create grey literature in all disciplines and advocate for and promote grey literature to faculty. With more scholars participating in systematic reviews of grey literature, librarians will need to be more cognizant of where and how it may be discovered

Proposing a C&RL Registered Reports Option

This was a letter writing was led by Amy Riegelman and included several signatures. In this letter we are proposing a registered reports submission track for College and Research Libraries. This letter was sent to C&RL Wendi Arant Kaspar in June 2020

Government Tech: Analytics, Discoverability, Faceted Legislative Navigation, and Puppy Cams

This workshop will give learners an opportunity to explore new and exciting ways to access government information. Learners will grapple with executive department web analytics, uncover hindrances of discovering government websites that are not mobile friendly, visualize the legislative process within Congress.gov (Bye, THOMAS!), and experience the mesmerizing and cuddly world of National Parks Service webcams. Come with an open mind and leave captivated by the data and multimedia (Puppies! Bears!) available on government web platforms