Leo Waaijers in D-Lib on Green OA Self-Archiving
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A new (2009) dialogue on Green OA, with passerby's comments appended.
(Cf. earlier [2001] dialogue's OA version, here).
Dialog on the Green road to Open Access
[Letter to the editor, D-Lib 15 (11/12) November 2009].
As imagined by Leo Waaijers, Open Access consultant,
October 2009 -- Author A following the Green road to OA
encounters "roadworker" L
A: Hello, L. This morning my publisher has
let me know that my manuscript has been
accepted for publication in his journal.
-- L: Congratulations, A.
A: Now he wants me to assign my copyrights to
him first.
-- L: That's quite classical.
A: But my funder has mandated that I deposit
my manuscript in an institutional repository
from where it will be circulated openly over
the internet after half a year. I am not sure
if my publisher will approve this.
-- L: You may be able to find out about that
on a web site called RoMeo. For about 10.000
journals RoMeo gives an overview of what
publishers will allow you to do.
A: But what if it turns out that my publisher
seems less permissive or my journal is not on
the list?
-- L: Maybe your funder has included an
opt-out clause for this situation. Most of
the so-called mandates do have such a clause.
Mandates may be from funders (42) or from authors? own institutions,
faculties or departments (64).
No need to opt out. And no need to wait for open circulation in a
half year either. Deposit immediately upon acceptance for
publication. Make deposit Open Access (OA) immediately if the
publisher endorses it (63%, which includes most of the top journals
in most fields). Otherwise, if you wish, make it Closed Access (37%)
and rely on the repository?s ?email eprint request? button to provide
Almost-OA during any OA embargo.
The ?opt-out? clauses in self-archiving mandates pertain to whether
you must successfully persuade the journal to accept the ?author
addendum? that formalizes your right to make your deposit OA
immediate: It's worth trying to adopt this addendum, but not
essential; hence you may opt out if you fail to persuade the
publisher, or do not wish to. But you deposit immediately anyway.
A: The mandate of my funder seems quite
rigorous.
-- L: In that case, don't assign your
copyrights and write a letter to your
publisher instead.
A: A letter?
-- L: It's not so difficult. The European
Commission has drafted such letters in all
European languages on their Open Access web
site.
A: What if my publisher denies my request?
-- L: Then you have to look for another
publisher.
Not true, and not necessary. See above.
A: Oh my God!
-- L: Well, I have never heard of a publisher
refusing.
A: Thank goodness. And then?
-- L: Sign the copyright transfer and deposit
your article.
A: That's it?
-- L: Yes, that's it. But don't forget to
mention the half-year embargo period.
Nothing to mention about embargoes. If the copyright agreement
imposes one, and the author wishes to honor it, deposit as Closed
Access rather than OA (and rely on the Almost-OA Button during the
embargo) but in any case deposit immediately, not after an embargo.
A: OK. Thanks.
-- L: My pleasure.
A walks on but returns after a few steps.
A: By the way, L. How can people find my
publication during the embargo period?
-- L: Its metadata will be circulated over
the internet.
A: What happens if someone wants to read it
during this period?
-- L: She may request that you send her a
copy.
A: So, that may generate extra readers for my
publication?
-- L: Surely.
A: And extra citations?
-- L: Yes, could be.
A: And extra prestige?
-- L: Well, it depends.
A: What do you mean?
-- L: Prestige comes from citation indexes
like Web of Science or Scopus. Make sure that
all citations of your publication culminate
there.
This is a nonsequitur: Citations are citations. If they are made by
authors who publish in journals that are indexed by Web of Science or
Scopus, then the citations will be indexed by Web of Science and
Scopus. The author of the cited article has no way to ?make sure?
that authors who cite that article publish in journals that are
indexed by Web of Science or Scopus. The author had no such power in
the pre-OA era, and continues to have no such power in the OA era.
(However, in the online and OA era Web of Science and Scopus and
Google Scholar and Citeseer and Ctebase are indexing more and more
journals, hence more and more citations, because it is becoming so
much easier and cheaper for them to do so.)
A: How?
-- L: Make sure that the official title, the
journal issue and page numbers of the
published version of your article are tagged
to the manuscript that is in the repository.
Then your repository could facilitate things
so that these data are used for references in
articles by others. You might check to see if
they have a policy on that.
The full bibliographic citation (author, title, date, journal, etc.)
is course be part of the deposit?s metadata. From thereon, it?s up to
users whether and where they cite the article, as it always was.
A: Hmm... And after the embargo period. What
happens then?
-- L: Then both versions of your publication
will be available. The official one only for
those who work at institutes that can afford
a subscription, and your manuscript for
everybody.
A: Are these versions identical?
-- L: No, certainly not. But, as regards
content, most differences are trivial and you
can always incorporate any ultimate editorial
correction in your manuscript afterwards.
A: Thus creating a third version ? let's say
the post-post-print?
-- L: Yes, if you wish so.
More important: The repository can also host and track
postpublication revised drafts of the article, containing
corrections, updates and elaborations, alongside the canonical
original.
A: And the reuse conditions of the versions
may be different?
-- L: Yes, they probably will be. Usually,
the reuse conditions of your manuscript are
not very well defined.
What ?reuse conditions?? The peer-reviewed final draft, accepted for
publication (along with any author updated drafts) is there to be
linked, downloaded, read, stored, printed-off, data-crunched, quited
and cited by any user.
What further ?reuses? are at issue? Google?s harvesting? That?s not
the author?s headache... Course packs? Just link the URL.
-- L: the rest comes with the OA (and
Almost-OA) territory.
A: Is it old fashioned if I feel a bit
nervous about all this?
-- L: Some people might say so.
A: Well, I'll entertain the situation. Thank
you very much. Good day, L.
-- L: Bon voyage, A.
Keep it simple, as it is in reality: Deposit all refereed
drafts immediately upon acceptance. Set access as OA if the journal
was Green (63%), and as Closed Access otherwise (37%), and rely on
the Almost-OA Button. That?s all there is to it.
Stevan Harnad
American Scientist Open Access Forum
Received on Tue Nov 17 2009 - 15:27:53 GMT
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