Princeton University will stop researchers from handing over their copyright to journal publishers, as part of a new open access policy at the university. Currently, researchers at Princeton and elsewhere 'give away' their work to journal publishers, and then have to buy back the journals in which their work gets published. It is a system that enriches publishers to the detriment of open scholarship.

^{Historically, peer-reviewed journals were published by scientific societies on a non-profit basis. Today scholarly publishing is dominated by a handful of large commercial publishers focused on maximising their profits. This has left small society publishers struggling to survive and libraries unable to afford all the journals they need.}

What is open scholarship? Why is it important? How open are we at UQ to the values around open scholarship? And how do we compare to Europe and North America?

These ideas will be canvassed in an upcoming seminar:

Open Scholarship Attitudes and Intentions at UQ: comparing UQ to North American, European & South African Higher Education Institutions, presented by Dr Joseph Hardin, Director Mujo Research, and Professor Emeritis, The University of Michigan.

If you are after an excellent example of a PhD partly comprised of publications follow this link to the eSpace record: Physical Activity, Sedentary Time and Blood Glucose in Australian Adults (by Neville Owen). We will be on the look out for more examples to share with you.

Are you interested in getting your research published? What are the challenges?

Enjoy a free lunch and discuss the prospects of a Graduate eJournal with us.

Please register if you are interested in attending.

When: Monday, 19 September, 12-2 pm.

Scientific journals should adopt new guidelines to more strictly identify the contributions of their authors, according to Alastair Matheson, a professional medical writer. He was quoted in an article, Universities Get Advice on How to Avoid Ghostwriting Scandals in Research Articles, in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A journal's impact factor is a tool many researchers use to measure their research impact.

The UK's Research Information Network funded a two-year project to describe and assess patterns of the use, value and impact of e-journals by researchers.

Recognising that the effective communication of scientific research is vital both to the scientific community and to a scientist's career, the American Chemical Society is currently producing a series of videos called Publishing Your Research 101.