Topic: Scholarly communication
Past Event
October 7, 2021
New Directions in Scholarly Publishing
Roger Schonfeld presents during Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) virtual panel
On October 7, Roger Schonfeld will join other panelists to discuss new funding opportunities for researchers and librarians. The panel will discuss how “how authors— especially early career authors—are required to navigate this new funding landscape, how librarians must consider new mandates and requirements from funding agencies while supporting the interests and needs of researchers within their respective institutions, and how funding as we know it is dynamically changing the landscape of academic research.” For more information, please visit this…
Past Event
November 3, 2021
Roger Schonfeld at 2021 Charleston Library Conference
On November 3, Roger Schonfeld will discuss with other other panelists how to design library services that reach library users outside of library-preferred workflows For more information, please visit this link. Abstract “How do libraries add value for patrons increasingly working outside library-preferred workflows (e.g. searching via Google Scholar), and accessing the library’s collection off-campus? This is a question of profound relevance to all library stakeholders – librarians, publishers, and patrons alike – and one that must be addressed…
Past Event
October 19, 2021
Technology, Trust, Together: Common Challenges and Opportunities for Today’s Digital Scholarly Communication Ecosystem
Roger Schonfeld at the STM Autumn Conference 2021
On Tuesday, October 19, Roger Schonfeld is taking part in a panel discussion at the STM Autumn Conference 2021. For more information and to register for this virtual conference, please visit the STM website. About the panel: Digital technology is pervasive in how research is conducted, how research teams collaborate, and how research output is disseminated. This has brought many improvements and new opportunities, for example enabling more efficient ways of (remote) working and giving researchers the ability to…
Blog Post
August 4, 2021
New Questionnaire for the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey 2021 Now Available
We’re excited to announce that we have now finalized updates for the 2021 edition of the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey, which we will be fielding nationally and with a number of college and university partners this fall. As with previous cycles of the survey, the instrument will explore the research, teaching, and publishing practices and perspectives of scholars at four-year colleges and universities. We have also expanded several areas of coverage within the questionnaire to cover instructional support services,…
Blog Post
July 14, 2021
Why Survey Testing is Essential
Preparing to Field the US Faculty Survey 2021
Ithaka S+R is gearing up for our eighth launch of the US Faculty Survey this fall. This national survey has yielded longitudinal data on scholarly research and teaching behaviors across a variety of institutional and disciplinary contexts on a triennial basis since 2000. To maximize the value of this initiative for higher education leaders, scholarly societies, academic libraries, and publishers who have come to rely on these data, especially in light of the…
Past Event
September 17, 2021
Roger Schonfeld at ALPSP 2021
On September 17, Roger Schonfeld will present on “Scholarly Communications, Evolution or Revolution,” during ALPSP’s virtual conference. Roger will be joined by panelists to discuss how scholarly publishing is changing and what is the outlook for books and journals. For more information, please follow this link. About the session The pandemic has accelerated the use of preprint servers and advanced the open science movement. At the same time, we are seeking continuous growth in research output globally and burden…
Past Event
August 19, 2021
What’s the Big Deal? How Researchers Are Navigating Changes to Journal Access
Oya Y. Rieger and Danielle Cooper Present at ASERL
In a webinar for ASERL on August 19 at 2:00 pm (EDT), Oya Y. Rieger and Danielle Cooper will present their findings on researcher behavior and perceptions on strategic decision-making about Big Deal journal subscriptions. For more information and to register, please follow this link. The abstract is available below. Abstract The dominant mode by which research libraries have provided maximum journal access as broadly and efficiently as possible—subscription bundles or “Big Deals”— is giving way to new…
Past Event
July 28, 2021
Roger Schonfeld Moderates Panel at Charleston In Between
Clarivate Acquires ProQuest
On Wednesday, July 28, at 10:30 am, Roger Schonfeld is moderating a virtual panel on Clarivate’s acquisition of ProQuest (for more about the acquisition, please see Roger’s post on The Scholarly Kitchen). The panel includes the following speakers: Claudio Aspesi, Consultant, SPARC Michael Clarke, Managing Partner, Clarke & Esposito Gwen Evans, Vice President, Global Library Relations, Elsevier Dracine Hodges, Associate University Librarian for Technical Services, Duke University James Phimister, Managing Director, Market Development, Analytics, and Customer Insights, NEJM Group/New…
Blog Post
June 22, 2021
New Report: What’s the Big Deal?
How Researchers Are Navigating Changes to Journal Access
Since 1996, the “Big Deal” has enabled academic libraries of all sizes to license bundled access to a publisher’s journal at a significant discount off the list prices. Over the years, as Big Deal spending has come to occupy a greater and greater share of materials budgets, libraries have come to question the value of their Big Deal subscriptions, with some opting to cancel or significantly alter their existing arrangements. Today we are thrilled to announce a…
Blog Post
June 22, 2021
Cancelling the Big Deal Project Spotlight
An Interview with Freie Universität Berlin with contributions from Dominik Hagel, Franziska Harnisch, Mario Kowalak, and Cosima Wagner
As university budgets face considerable strain and new models for providing open access to scholarly communication proliferate, academic libraries are increasingly pursuing alternatives to the “Big Deal” journal subscription model, including cancellation. But how are these strategies affecting researchers and what do they make of them? Over the past year Ithaka S+R has been studying the impact of Big Deal cancellations on its users in partnership with 11 academic libraries. Previous research has focused primarily on…
Research Report
June 22, 2021
What’s the Big Deal?
How Researchers Are Navigating Changes to Journal Access
The dominant mode by which research libraries have provided maximum journal access as cheaply as possible—subscription bundles or “Big Deals”—is giving way to new approaches. This transition is taking place through a combination of negotiations, activism, business modeling, user needs research, and decision support, among other factors. To support these processes, Ithaka S+R partnered with 11 academic libraries to understand researcher perceptions to help inform their ongoing strategic decision making about Big Deal journal subscriptions.
Blog Post
May 13, 2021
Announcing the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey 2021
This fall, we are looking forward to fielding our triennial US Faculty Survey. This will be the eighth cycle of this long-standing research initiative through which we examine faculty research and teaching perspectives and practices across a variety of institutional and disciplinary contexts. Through this ongoing work, we have now mapped for over two decades the evolving attitudes and behaviors of scholars on a range of topics, including the discovery and access of scholarship, research dissemination and preservation, instructional methods…
Blog Post
April 15, 2021
Three Questions for Kara Bledsoe
On April 1, Kara Bledsoe joined Ithaka S+R’s Libraries, Scholarly Communication, and Museums team. In this interview, she reflects on what brought her to Ithaka S+R and what she hopes to accomplish through her work with us. What attracted you to Ithaka S+R? My background is in management consulting for cultural organizations. I drafted strategic plans, facilitated visioning workshops, and evaluated clients’ operations to help them optimize the balance between market forces and their missions. Most of the research…
Past Event
April 13, 2021
Oya Y. Rieger, Danielle Cooper, and Kurtis Tanaka at ACRL 2021
Oya Y. Rieger, Danielle Cooper, and Kurtis Tanaka will present on-demand programs during the 2021 ACRL Virtual Conference. For more information on their individual sessions, please visit this link. Oya Y. Rieger, Danielle Cooper will discuss the impacts of Big Deal cancellations on patrons. Please see the abstract below: “No deal, no problem? The Impacts of Big Deal Cancellations on Patrons” Libraries are increasingly questioning the value of their Big Deal subscriptions, leading to a number of prominent cancellations…
Blog Post
March 8, 2021
Three Questions for Ithaka S+R’s Newest Analysts
In January, we welcomed three new analysts to our team. In this interview, they reflect on what brought them to Ithaka S+R and what they hope to accomplish through their work with us. What attracted you to Ithaka S+R? Darnell Epps: I found the work around college in prison to be quite appealing, especially the goal of advancing educational equity through technology. Although I would later matriculate and graduate from Cornell University, the first…
Past Event
February 17, 2021
Danielle Cooper at the Open Science Conference
On Wednesday, February 17, Danielle Cooper is presenting on “Data Communities: Data Sharing from the Ground Up,” at the Open Science Conference. For more information and to register, please visit the conference website. Abstract This talk proposes a new mechanism for conceptualizing and supporting STEM research data sharing. Successful data sharing happens within data communities, formal or informal groups of scholars who share a certain type of…
Blog Post
January 12, 2021
Data Repository Platforms: A Primer
Last updated on March 10, 2021 While scholars generally believe in the value of sharing and preserving research datasets, many do not believe it’s worth their time to do so. And, when they do invest their time in data sharing and preservation, they tend to have a preference for doing so in an independent and self-reliant fashion. These are issues that we have not only documented through our long-standing national faculty survey but ones that we have…
Blog Post
January 4, 2021
Not Much Has (Yet) Changed
Open Access Priorities and the Impact of COVID-19
As it became clear at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that research on the virus was greatly needed by both scholars and the general public, many publishers quickly opened up access to previously paywalled content. Open access sharing of COVID-19 data became relatively more common with organizations such as the National Institutes of Health compiling and sharing databases of articles, enabling researchers…
Blog Post
November 2, 2020
Five New Higher Ed Datasets Now Available from Ithaka S+R
Over the years, Ithaka S+R has routinely deposited datasets from our research projects with the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, better known by its acronym of ICPSR. In doing so, this ensures that our data is not only digitally preserved, enabling long-term access, but also thoroughly processed and made available in a variety of formats for download. Several new datasets from our research projects have recently become available in our…
Issue Brief
October 28, 2020
Scholarly Societies in the Age of COVID
As membership organizations with revenues typically derived from a combination of publications, meetings, and dues, scholarly societies have faced distinctive challenges, as well as opportunities, in navigating the pandemic. To explore these, we spoke with chief executives and chief publishing officers at 12 large and small societies, some focused on the humanities and social sciences, others on the STEM fields. We were interested in how the various sources of activity and value for scholarly societies were being impacted…