All Office of Scholarly Communication courses

Librarians are used to dealing with data in all its forms but sometimes researchers aren't so sure. Many funders now require evidence from the researcher of how they plan to manage the data they use and collect during the research process and this often has to be tailored to specific guidelines. This presents a great opportunity for library staff to work with the research community but how do they get started?

Join the OSC to learn more about what a data management plan is, why they are necessary, the different information needed, how to complete one and how to support someone in completing theirs. This interactive train-the-trainer workshop will include a mix of presentations and activities with a chance to put your new knowledge into practice.

Prevent research disasters through good data management

• How much information would you lose if your laptop was stolen?
• Have you ever emailed your colleague a file named 'final_final_versionEDITED'?
• Do you know what your funder expects you to do with your research information?

As a researcher, you will encounter research data in many forms, ranging from literature sources, interviews, measurements, numbers and images.

Whether you create, receive or collect this information, you will need to organise it.

Managing digital information properly is a complex issue. Doing it correctly from the start could save you a lot of time and hassle when preparing a publication or writing up your thesis.

Feeling lost in getting started on data management?

Attend the workshop to get inspired and started on how to structure, backup and describe your data.

This workshop (for students in the area of physical and human geography, as well as STEM subjects generally) will work through the challenges around managing research data as well as the benefits of working reproducibly. Participants will be provided with guidance and resources on how to effectively manage projects and avoid data loss throughout the research process.

You will hear of what can happen if researchers do not manage their data well as well as what happens to research data after the end of a project, such as how to share and store data in a long-term and sustainable way. It is never too early to start thinking about these things, so get a head start on your research data management practices now!

Department of Geography, Seminar Room

Paola Quattroni from Cancer Research UK coming to run a workshop on 11th May.

This is a really good opportunity to influence the Cancer Research UK data policy and give feedback to your funder about the changes you would like to see. Paola will give a short talk and then the majority of the workshop will be given over to discussions and opportunities for researchers to feedback their experiences, problems and suggested solutions to enable more data sharing. As well as discussing data sharing Paola will also bring some data management plans so researchers can find out more about what they should and should not be putting in their grant applications.

Solving the problem of Open Access or causing more trouble?

Open Access can be hard to understand at the best of times but one term that causes particular confusion is ‘mirror journals’. Promoted as one way of solving the problem of a lack of publisher interest in Open Access, these titles are appearing in every discipline but what are they?

Join the OSC for this information webinar to find out all about mirror journals, their history, the problems they can solve and those that they can potentially cause!

Are the researchers in your department confused about what they need to do about Open Access?

This support session will equip you to help them understand:

• what Open Access policies actually mean for researchers across the disciplines
• what they are required to do in order for their research to be eligible for REF 2021

Open Access can be a confusing topic for researchers and they will often turn to those within their department for answers. These interactive sessions will help those with these responsibilities to guide researchers through the process of making their research available.

Each session will begin with a short presentation introducing Open Access followed by a chance for attendees to ask questions on issues of local relevance.

Note that this session is targeted towards those supporting the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics although those from other disciplines are also welcome to attend

The majority of professional learning happens on the job, especially where colleagues with different skill sets come together to achieve common goals. Productive relationships between academics, administrators and service providers are crucial to enabling the flow of information and skills to benefit all parties. This exchange can be facilitated by professional networks, which provide not only formal learning, but also opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other.

In this talk you will hear about the experience of two librarians, Charlotte Smith and River Cronin, who made the most of the Data Champions network (https://www.data.cam.ac.uk/intro-data-champions): how they set up a collaboration with researchers, what they achieved through it, and what they learnt in the process.

The talk will be useful to anyone thinking of joining or setting up a network, as well as current members of professional networks who are looking for new ways to challenge themselves. We hope you will be inspired to discover ways in which collaborating with diverse colleagues may provide unusual opportunities for your development and professional success.

Join the OSC for a discussion of Open Access issues relevant to HASS librarians

The Open Access message has been geared towards sharing academic outputs like journal articles and their underlying data as well as being mandated by funders but how do you promote Open Access if none of these areas apply to your work?

This final webinar in our "Librarian Toolkit" series on Open Access will address Open Access from the perspective of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences librarians and cover topics such as Open Access monographs, the implications of not having a funder and places to share your work.

A detailed programme schedule can be found further below. Alternatively you can download a copy.

Practical information regarding the event is also available. Please download a copy.

The publication of books in Open Access format has been under discussion for several years, and has attracted interest especially from researchers in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Questions around the topic abound in light of developments including Plan S, changing funder policy and proposed requirements for the next REF.  

This one-day symposium is aimed primarily at researchers, postgraduate students, librarians and research support staff from the University of Cambridge, but it is also open to the public. It will explore the policies, economics and future directions of Open Monograph publishing. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss innovations in the sector, share their enthusiasms and concerns about current developments, and learn more about the opportunities for and realities of publishing an open access book. 

IMPORTANT BOOKING INFORMATION: This event is free of charge for participants who have a Raven password and booking can be made directly from this webpage. For those who do not have a Raven password there will be a charge of £50 to attend the event. Please visit our esales form to make a booking. Please note that bookings via the esales form will close on 25 September at 11pm and bookings via UTBS (Raven password) on Tuesday 1 October noon (or earlier if we reach full capacity). Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee any dietary requirements (apart from vegetarian) for bookings made after 25 September.

Programme highlights:

Professor Martin Paul Eve (Birkbeck, University of London) will present on the economics and political-economics of open-access monograph publishing.

Professor Margot Finn (President of the Royal Historical Society) will discuss open monographs from the perspectives of the RHS.

Panel session 1: ‘Policy and practice: Moving towards Plan S and REF’. Chair: Dr Steven Hill (Director of Research, Research England). Panel: Prof Martin Paul Eve (Birkbeck, University of London), Prof Margot Finn (President of RHS), Hannah Hope (Open Research Coordinator, Wellcome Trust), Prof Roger Kain (School of Advanced Study, University of London & Chairman of the UUK OA Monographs Group) 

Panel session 2: ‘Innovations in open monograph publishing’. Chair: Patricia Killiard (Deputy Director, Academic Services, Cambridge University Libraries). Panel includes representatives from: Cambridge University Press, UCL Press, Open Book Publishers, Springer Nature and Radical Open Access 

What's new in Open Access for 2018?

Open Access is a fast moving area but it can be hard to find the time to keep up. This webinar on Open Access offers a brief update on the biggest changes both within Cambridge and the wider world in the last year.

What’s new in Open Access for 2019?

Open Access is a fast moving area but it can be hard to find time to keep up with the latest developments. This session offers a brief update on the biggest changes both within Cambridge and the wider world in the last year.

Join us for the fourth in our series exploring resources to help with the process of publishing your research in STEM disciplines - from recording observations to editing to peer review.

This session offers the chance to learn about available tools and options in publishing and reviewing, and ask questions of the experts.

Featuring contributions from:

• independent and not-for-profit media outlet The Conversation (Miriam Frankel)
• local solutions with Cambridge University Press (Chris Harrison)
• Aperta and changing the way we publish with PLOS (Nicola Stead)
• Open Access with Scholastica (Brian Cody)

and more!

Morning refreshments and lunch will be provided, during which time you can speak to providers for information and user support.

We will be recording and sharing these presentations for all those who are unable to attend on the day.

You can find a programme for this event here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j07XgHK5MOfLcvVZiIf3xnoGI0EcgJr1hRWIaO0AUDI/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks to PLOS for their sponsorship of this event.

Join the OSC for an introduction to Open Access

Open Access can be complicated, especially when you're dealing with researchers from across disciplines. This introductory session on Open Access is specifically tailored to the needs of Cambridge college library staff working with a range of different users although anyone wanting a refresher on Open Access is welcome to attend.

The first in our "Librarian Toolkit" webinar series on Open Access will cover topics such as what Open Access is, why it's important and how college librarians can support their users in sharing their work.

With open access now a mainstay of culture in most disciplines, we look at what lays beyond. What challenges remain and how can they be addressed? How can scholarly communication evolve to best serve the needs of researchers in a variety of disciplines? There will be four sessions through the day, looking at..

Further than privileged institutions. Many OA conversations are centred on research institutions in Europe and North America, where there is abundant funding for both reading and publishing and significant power to influence. Institutions like Cambridge risk favouring solutions that disadvantage less privileged researchers. We want to hear the voices of researchers who work outside this framework to make sure we move towards solutions that truly serve everyone.

Further than the Article/Book processing charge. The APC model is coming to dominate the OA landscape, but is it helping us to fulfil the benefits promised by open access? Are BPCs sustainable and inclusive? Are there better ways of financing open access publishing?

Further than publish or perish. Many researchers are dissatisfied with a culture that rewards publications above all else and sets up perverse incentives. What alternatives are there, and can we make them work in practice? How should Cambridge approach the hiring and promotion of researchers?

Further than traditional publishing. The article format evolved at a time when journals circulated as print copies. In the digital era, can we do better? If we could design the ideal format for research publications, what would it look like? What models have been proposed so far, and how are they working?

For the full programme of sessions and accessibility information, please see our events page: https://osc.cam.ac.uk/open-access-where-next

Have you ever wondered who can access your research? Most articles and research outputs are locked up behind paywalls inside an ivory tower. Find out how to make your practice more open to reach a broader audience, spark collaborations and, most importantly, improve the quality of your research.

The OSC is delighted to bring you a lunchtime screening of the documentary that has taken Open Access issues to the big screen.

Paywall: The Business of Scholarship is a documentary which focuses on the need for open access to research and science, questions the rationale behind the $25.2 billion a year that flows into for-profit academic publishers, examines the 35-40% profit margin associated with the top academic publisher Elsevier and looks at how that profit margin is often greater than some of the most profitable tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Google.

Bring your lunch and enjoy some popcorn!

Everyone is welcome to attend this free event: visit our booking page.

The principles of Plan S are set to change what funders require from researchers, placing a much greater emphasis on immediate Open Access and other open practices. While we've been busy preparing here in the UK, our colleagues in the US have not been idle.

Micah Vandegrift is the Open Knowledge Librarian at NC State University Libraries, where he works on community-building and advocating for Open Research. He will be sharing his perspective on the likely impact of Plan S on libraries, publishers, researchers and repositories.

Format: 20-30 minutes talk, followed by an opportunity to discuss these issues with others in the room.

Refreshments will be available from 11:30. Join us for an informal chat before the talk.

Resources: if you would like to refresh your knowledge of Plan S before the seminar, check out our Plan S Factsheet (https://osc.cam.ac.uk/files/copy_of_plan_s.pdf) and webinar (https://osc.cam.ac.uk/training/supporting-researchers-21st-century-programme/wednesday-webinars).

You've published your research...now what should you do with it? It seems we are expected to share more and more online, which can be both daunting and exciting. In this session we will look carefully at the benefits and barriers to sharing research, giving you an opportunity to consider a strategy that will work for you.

This session explores the whys and hows of sharing research - the options, the benefits and the logistics:

• Your aims and motivations for disseminating research
• Opportunities for sharing offered by social media and traditional media
• Pitfalls when creating an online presence
• Ways to find out who has been sharing, using and citing your published research

You've published your research...now what should you do with it?

This session explores the whys and hows of sharing research - the options, the benefits and the logistics.

Explore:

• Scholarly best practice for sharing research
• Opportunities for sharing offered by social media
• Benefits that sharing your research brings you and the wider community
• What your funder expects you to share.
• How to use the University repository, Apollo, to share your research and also access that of others
• Ways to find out who has been sharing, using and citing your published research

• Where should you publish your research?
• What publishing format should you choose?

This session looks at the things you need to consider in order to reach your audience effectively, including:

• Indicators to use to assess the appropriateness of a journal for your research - Journal Impact Factor, publisher fees and publication times
• Who should own the copyright to your work?
• How you can use other people’s copyrighted material

• Where should you publish your research?
• What publishing format should you choose?

This session looks at the things you need to consider in order to reach your audience effectively, including:

• Indicators to use to assess the appropriateness of a journal for your research - Journal Impact Factor, publisher fees and publication times
• Who should own the copyright to your work?
• How you can use other people’s copyrighted material

The University’s one-year Rights Retention pilot has taught the library a great deal about the practicalities of supporting self-archiving through rights retention. In a meeting in November 2022, the Research Policy Committee considered the findings from the pilot so far and endorsed the development of a self-archiving policy for researchers. We would like to invite you to attend a briefing session to gather your feedback.

Dear esteemed author...

So-called predatory publishers regularly approach researchers via email to solicit manuscripts and conference papers. With the emphasis on publishing as a measure of academic success still strong it can be easy to give in to temptation and flattery but this can do more harm than good to a future career.

This session will look at whether these publishers are a problem, how to spot a potential problem publisher or conference and the best advice to offer researchers if they are approached.

Many researchers consider publishing a book, often in the form of a monograph, and the process can be daunting the first time around. You will get the starter-kit to get your idea off the ground, with a collection of tips and tools to make your life easier. By the end of the session, you'll have the basic knowledge -and more importantly the confidence- to take your publishing project further.

Have your say to help us negotiate the best possible read and publish agreement with Springer Nature.

UK Universities are negotiating with Springer Nature with the aim to reach a sustainable and affordable read and publish deal. Read more.

Experts from Jisc will facilitate discussions with small groups of Cambridge researchers about your experience with the publishing process and how you get access to the materials you read. By taking part, you will help to shape the approach to negotiations and communications over the next few months. This will also be an opportunity to deepen your understanding of how the negotiations are conducted, the issues involved in academic publishing, and the way colleagues in different disciplines approach these questions.