In the Indian context, Open Access to science has been facilitated by government-funded repositories of student and doctoral theses, and many Indian society journals are published with platinum OA. Indian journals are increasingly available on OA platforms. However, OA in India faces numerous challenges, notably predatory OA journals and the paucity of funds. There is a need to increase awareness amongst Indian academics regarding best publication practices, and how to avoid falling prey to poor quality OA journals.

Plan S will be a focal point for Europe’s research libraries in the coming months as systems and working routines are adjusted to meet the plan’s requirements. LIBER appreciates the latest guidance, which matches LIBER’s strategic goal of making Open Access the main form of scholarly communication by 2020. At the same time, LIBER’ Open Access Working Group recognises the complexities and challenges faced by research libraries to implement publishing or update services to follow Plan S.

With more than 20 years of experience in research, advice and training to publishers, Latindex promotes this online course Publishing and visibility of scientific journals. This project involves researchers specialized in librarianship and information science and partners of Latindex. The objectives are multiple: to provide Central American publishers with the basic knowledge for publishing and managing printed and electronic academic journals; to promote an improvement in the editorial quality of scientific publications; to promote journals acquiring a better visibility at a global level, and finally to promote Open Access.

LA Referencia gives visibility to the scientific production of higher education and research institutions in Latin America, promotes open and free access to full text, with a special emphasis on publicly financed results. The Open Repositories conference aimed to address discussions on how repositories can support, interact and improve the experience of their recipients. Within this framework, Lautaro Matas, LA Referencia, and Washington Carvalho Segundo, IBICT (Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology Information), presented the improvement of LA Referencia metadata by linking research profiles with repositories. The presentation is now available for download.
[Article in Spanish]

Researchers applauded Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)’s new selection criteria that removed many existing journals from its index because they are ‘Not Adhering to Best Practice’. However, many of these journals have acceptable scholarly quality. The present study compares such removed journals to a trustworthy bibliometric database, SCImago Journal & Country Rank (the Scopus Database). It finds many overlaps. Some of the overlapping journals have a high score in the SCImago ranks. This paper calls for a more transparent process of journal reviews by DOAJ or even a re‐examination of the selection criteria and/or the evaluation process.

The participants of the second AEUP (Association of the European University Presses) conference have committed to cooperate further in enhancing the recognition of university/institutional publishing. Read the full text of the declaration here.

Other reports from the conference can be found here.

The breadth of the profession was embraced by keynote speakers and breakout sessions at CILIP Conference 2019. CILIP is the UK’s library and information association. Topics covered on day one ranged from artificial intelligence to public libraries. This report highlights the best sessions.

The International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) 2019 Annual Conference will take place in Shanghai on 23-26 September. Themed ‘Open Science and Open Innovation’, the conference is part of a bigger event co-organised with the Shanghai Competitive Intelligence Forum (SCIF) and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) and generously hosted by Shanghai Library/Institute of Scientific & Technical Information of Shanghai (ISTIS).  The conference will also present  high-level ITOC (Information Trends and Opportunities Committee) and TACC (Technical Activities Coordinating Committee) workshops on 26th September 2019.

Registration is open.

The preliminary programme is online.

The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association webinar features four panelists: Aileen Fyfe, University of St Andrews; Stuart Taylor, Publishing Director of The Royal Society; Rachael Samberg, UC Berkeley Library; Alicia Wise, Information Power.

Register now for free.

iPRES is the longest-running conference series on digital preservation, bringing together 300-400 researchers, information professionals, providers, and other experts to share recent developments, innovative projects and to collaboratively solve problems.

The programme is online.