Open Access and the early career researcher: resources

We are running a session today on “Open Access” for our research students. These are some of the resources we mention in the session:

The Vitae “Focus on open researchers within open research” website has a wealth of resources. This quote sums the reasons why PGR students need to know about this topic:

“Individuals aspiring to a research career need the knowledge and skills to operate effectively in an open research environment. Developing in this area will help you to open doors and access opportunities that could benefit you as a professional”

Open Access for ECR Advocates

• Nancy Pontika’s presentation on “Benefits of Open Access to Early Career Researchers” (2015)
• Caroline Edwards’ presentation on “Open Access, the Humanities, and Early Career Researchers” (2014) or watch her talk (40 mins) on YouTube.
• Erin McKiernan pledged to be open in her career . She reviews her decision and the outcomes in Nov 2015 at OpenCon – see slides 7 and 8 for her pledge.
• See Erin talk about “Top tips for Early Career Researchers about Open Access“
• See Jack Andraka talk about how open access helped him make his breakthrough cancer diagnostic treatment.

Articles

• This article on the LSE Impact blog looks at the tension between open access and the perceived issues with career progression: “Stop shielding early-career researchers from open access – limiting wider involvement won’t change a broken system“
• A write-up of the OpenCon event (Dec 2014) which looks at “Students and Early-Career Researchers for Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data“
• Why Open Research? Advice on how to “Reduce Publishing Costs“

Open Theses

• RCUK currently mandate that theses be made available within 12 months of completion
• Ethos: the UK e-theses online service run by the British Library

Whilst most universities have e-theses repositories, there are some issues raised with making theses open access:

• An article from the US on issues with making a Humanities thesis open (vs the tenure process which expects publication of a monograph): “On One Instance Where Open-Access Stinks, and Digitally Embargoing Humanities Dissertations“
• A case study of the problems faced by one student with making their thesis available due to copyright material

If you have any other good resources specifically focused on research students or ECRs then let us know in the comments!

Our Swansea University web pages on Open Access.