Speeding Up the Spiral: Analysis of the Effects of Open Access on Scientific Knowledge Creation

This paper analyzes the effects of open access (OA) on the creation of scientific knowledge. In a first step, drawing on the theory of Nonaka and colleagues, their SECI model is applied to the processes of knowledge creation in science. Typical activities of the research process are assigned to the four knowledge conversion modes socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. Subsequently, on the basis of the resulting framework it is shown how OA affects scientific knowledge creation. We conclude that (1) with regard to the epistemological dimension of knowledge, OA decreases the time of running through the SECI cycle, and (2) concerning the ontological dimension, OA enlarges the number of possible receivers of newly created knowledge. Those propositions provide a basis for further empirical studies within the introduced framework

Quantum Game Theory and Open Access Publishing

The digital revolution of the information age and in particular the sweeping changes of scientific communication brought about by computing and novel communication technology, potentiate global, high grade scientific information for free. The arXiv for example is the leading scientific communication platform, mainly for mathematics and physics, where everyone in the world has free access on. While in some scientific disciplines the open access way is successfully realized, other disciplines (e.g. humanities and social sciences) dwell on the traditional path, even though many scientists belonging to these communities approve the open access principle. In this paper we try to explain these different publication patterns by using a game theoretical approach. Based on the assumption, that the main goal of scientists is the maximization of their reputation, we model different possible game settings, namely a zero sum game, the prisoners’ dilemma case and a version of the stag hunt game, that show the dilemma of scientists belonging to “non-open access communities”. From an individual perspective, they have no incentive to deviate from the Nash Equilibrium of traditional publishing. By extending the model using the quantum game theory approach it can be shown, that if the strength of entanglement exceeds a certain value, the scientists will overcome the dilemma and terminate to publish only traditionally in all three settings.Open Access, game theory, social dilemma, quantum game theory

Doves and hawks in economics revisited [An evolutionary quantum game theory-based analysis of financial crises]

The last financial and economic crisis demonstrated the dysfunctional long-term effects of aggressive behaviour in financial markets. Yet, evolutionary game theory predicts that under the condition of strategic dependence a certain degree of aggressive behaviour remains within a given population of agents. However, as the consequences of the financial crisis exhibit, it would be desirable to change the 'rules of the game' in a way that prevents the occurrence of any aggressive behaviour and thereby also the danger of market crashes. The paper picks up this aspect. Through the extension of the in literature well-known Hawk-Dove game by a quantum approach, we can show that dependent on entanglement, also evolutionary stable strategies can emerge, which are not predicted by classical evolutionary game theory and where the total economic population uses a non aggressive quantum strategy.Evolutionary game theory; financial crisis; hawk-dove game; quantum game theory

FOSTERING ACADEMIC RESEARCH BY CLOUD COMPUTING - THE USERS\u27 PERSPECTIVE

The adoption of Cloud Computing (CC) is growing rapidly. However, studies on the adoption of these new technologies by individual users are rare and almost exclusively focused on the business context. This paper presents first results of a research project addressing the adoption of CC by individual researchers and small research groups in Higher Education institutions. We surveyed users of the Frankfurt Cloud, an IaaS environment provided at the Goethe University of Frankfurt that serves affiliated researchers with on-demand computing and storage resources. On the one hand, the findings indicate that users benefit from fast and easy access to computing power for their research, on the other hand, user concerns related to cloud adoption are identified, which have to be taken into account during further development of CC services for academic research

General cost analysis for scholarly communication in Germany : results of the "Houghton Report" for Germany

Management Summary: Conducted within the project “Economic Implications of New Models for Information Supply for Science and Research in Germany”, the Houghton Report for Germany provides a general cost and benefit analysis for scientific communication in Germany comparing different scenarios according to their specific costs and explicitly including the German National License Program (NLP). Basing on the scholarly lifecycle process model outlined by Björk (2007), the study compared the following scenarios according to their accounted costs: - Traditional subscription publishing, - Open access publishing (Gold Open Access; refers primarily to journal publishing where access is free of charge to readers, while the authors or funding organisations pay for publication) - Open Access self-archiving (authors deposit their work in online open access institutional or subject-based repositories, making it freely available to anyone with Internet access; further divided into (i) CGreen Open Access’ self-archiving operating in parallel with subscription publishing; and (ii) the ‘overlay services’ model in which self-archiving provides the foundation for overlay services (e.g. peer review, branding and quality control services)) - the NLP. Within all scenarios, five core activity elements (Fund research and research communication; perform research and communicate the results; publish scientific and scholarly works; facilitate dissemination, retrieval and preservation; study publications and apply the knowledge) were modeled and priced with all their including activities. Modelling the impacts of an increase in accessibility and efficiency resulting from more open access on returns to R&D over a 20 year period and then comparing costs and benefits, we find that the benefits of open access publishing models are likely to substantially outweigh the costs and, while smaller, the benefits of the German NLP also exceed the costs. This analysis of the potential benefits of more open access to research findings suggests that different publishing models can make a material difference to the benefits realised, as well as the costs faced. It seems likely that more Open Access would have substantial net benefits in the longer term and, while net benefits may be lower during a transitional period, they are likely to be positive for both ‘author-pays’ Open Access publishing and the ‘over-lay journals’ alternatives (‘Gold Open Access’), and for parallel subscription publishing and self-archiving (‘Green Open Access’). The NLP returns substantial benefits and savings at a modest cost, returning one of the highest benefit/cost ratios available from unilateral national policies during a transitional period (second to that of ‘Green Open Access’ self-archiving). Whether ‘Green Open Access’ self-archiving in parallel with subscriptions is a sustainable model over the longer term is debateable, and what impact the NLP may have on the take up of Open Access alternatives is also an important consideration. So too is the potential for developments in Open Access or other scholarly publishing business models to significantly change the relative cost-benefit of the NLP over time. The results are comparable to those of previous studies from the UK and Netherlands. Green Open Access in parallel with the traditional model yields the best benefits/cost ratio. Beside its benefits/cost ratio, the meaningfulness of the NLP is given by its enforceability. The true costs of toll access publishing (beside the buyback” of information) is the prohibition of access to research and knowledge for society

DISMANTLING THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT - THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL ADOPTION OF OPEN STANDARD-BASED INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Open standard-based inter-organizational information systems play a critical role in today´s organizations and their relationships with business partners. However, theoretical understanding of organizational adoption of such systems in existing research is limited. Prior studies highlight the role of the external business environment in influncing organizational adoption of such systems, but lack focus on the various environmental context characteristics influncing organizational adoption decisions. This study conducts a structured analysis of scientific literature on factors of the organizational, technological, and environmental contexts that are able to influnce the organizational adoption of open standard-based inter-organizational information systems. Using the results of the literature analysis, this study focuses on the critical role of the business environment in influncing organizational adoption of such systems and derives a typology of environmental context characteristics exhibiting inherently differing types of business environment related influnce on organizational adoption decisions. The derived typology leads to a better theoretical understanding of organizational adoption of such systems and provides practitioners with a structured view on the external forces operating in the business environment of their organization. Finally, the study discusses important implications for future research in this context as well as for decision makers considering the adoption of particular systems

Micro-Firms Need to be Addressed Differently – an Empirical Investigation of IOS Adoption Among SMEs

Inter-organizational information systems (IOS) play a critical role in today’s organizations and their relationships with business partners. While large organizations began utilizing such systems since their dawn in the 1970’s, SMEs have largely been reluctant to adopt and use these technologies. Given their relative commonness among enterprises, SMEs and micro-firms are particularly well suited to provide the critical mass of adopters needed to exploit network externalities exhibited by IOS. However, studies on adoption of IOS featuring micro-firms have remained scarce. Hence, a special focus on adoption decisions in micro-firms can be of great value to advance the understanding of IOS adoption. A survey is conducted on the influence of inhibitors on adoption of IOS for electronic invoice exchange among German SMEs and micro-firms. Several inhibitors are identified from extant literature restraining SMEs from adopting. In particular, results show that reasons restraining micro-firms are significantly different from reasons restraining larger SMEs

Convincing Business Partners to Adopt – Results from a Field-Experimental Setting on Organizational IOS Adoption

Organizations striving to compete in today’s harsh economic environment are forced to continuously innovate to retain competitiveness over time. The use of inter-organizational systems (IOS) is one way for organizations to gain competitive advantage. This paper attempts to investigate the adoption of IOS by means of a controlled field-experiment on organizational level. Relevant scientific literature on this topic largely agrees that two main factors of influence – circumstantial information, and institutional pressure – are assumed to have a strong influence on adoption intention of organizations. By conducting a field experiment across 504 business partners of a larger German organization, we find evidence for the relationship between institutional pressure and IOS adoption, while no support is found for the relation between circumstantial information and IOS adoption

INTEGRATING A DIFFERENTIATED NORM CLASSIFICATION INTO THE MODEL OF ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY IN HOUSEHOLDS (MATH)

Throughout the whole history of IS adoption research, researchers struggled to frame, conceptualize, and define social norms in a sufficient way. While research during the last three years provided helpful advice to overcome this challenge, it still remains the question, why other shapes of norms (e.g. cultural norms, religious norms, moral norms, or legal norms) were hardly ever framed or discussed for IS adoption research. To provide a first step within this direction, this research offers a conceptual extension of normative beliefs for the Model of Adoption of Technology in Households (MATH) (Venkatesh and Brown 2001, Brown and Venkatesh 2005) using the norm topology by Gibbs (1965) of sociology research. An operationalization of the new constructs is provided and further steps of this research in progress are discussed