Scientific Scholarly Communication (eBook)

Pali U. K. De Silva (Ph.D. in Plant Health, Master of Library and Information Science) has been trained as a research scientist with expertise in biological and agricultural scientific disciplines. Because of the curiosity and interest she developed about the evolving scholarly communication system, she decided to learn more about it and pursued a degree in library and information science. After obtaining an MLIS, she changed her professional career direction to become an information professional and was affiliated with Iowa Sate University and Murray State University. During her career as an information professional, she became especially interested in the complexities of the changing scientific scholarly communication landscape and extensively researched the developments and trends in various aspects of the scientific scholarly communication system. This book is a product of that effort.Candace K. Vance (B.S. in Agricultural Science, Master of Science in Information Sciences, M.A. and M.F.A. in English and Creative Writing). Her interest in science, particularly the health sciences, led her to an internship at Eskind Biomedical Library at Vanderbilt Medical Center after receiving her MSIS degree. She has been a health science librarian since 2000 and was affiliated with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Aquinas College, and Murray State University. During this experience, she discovered the benefits of evidence-based medicine and the important role scientific scholarly communications plays in delivering the highest level of health care. Her research and teaching interests include scientific scholarly communication, the open access movement, assessing the impact of research, and scientific misconduct. These, combined with her interest in creative writing, helped her contribute in making this book a reality. 

1 Scientific Scholarly Communication: Moving Forward Through Open Discussions1.1Introduction1.2Open and Unrestricted Access to Scientific Information 1.2.1Concerns with Openly Sharing Sensitive Scientific Information 1.3Sharing Scientific Data1.3.1Privacy and Genetic Data Sharing1.4Intellectual Property Rights and Scientific Scholarly Communication1.4.1Impact of IPR on Sharing Data1.5Measuring the Impact of Scientific Research1.6Concluding Remarks1.7References2 Access to Scientific Knowledge: A Historical Perspective2.1Introduction2.2Scientific Scholarly Information Sharing: 1600 -19002.3Scholarly Communication Developments in the 20th and the 21st Centuries2.4Journal Subscription Debates2.5Concluding Remarks2.6References3 On the Road to Unrestricted Access to Scientific Information: The Open Access Movement3.1Introduction3.2Open Access to Scholarly Publications: Legislative and Other Supporting Initiatives3.3Initiatives by Scholars, Research Funders, and Other ‘Movers’3.4Measuring the Impact of OA Journals3.5OA Influence in the Developing World3.6OA Publishing Models 3.6.1Green OA Model3.6.2Gold OA Model3.6.3Other OA Models3.7Maintaining the Quality and Integrity of OA Journals3.8Concluding Remarks3.9References4 Sharing Scientific Data: Moving Towards “Open Data?"4.1Introduction4.2Policy Initiatives Supporting Data Sharing4.3Involvement of Funding Organizations and Journal Publishers4.4Data Sharing Habits of Scientists4.5Data Sharing in Different Scientific Disciplines4.5.1Sharing Ecological Data4.5.2Sharing Genomic Data4.6 Data Publication and Data Citation4.7 Moving Towards “Open Data”4.8 Concluding Remarks4.9 References5 Free Flow of Scientific Information vs. Intellectual Property Rights5.1Introduction5.2University-Industry Collaborations or Commercialization of Academic Research?5.2.1Patenting and Licensing Academic Scientific Discoveries - Government Legislations5.2.2IPR and Academic Research – The Debate5.2.3 Negative Effects of Patenting Scientific Research5.2.4 Patent Documents as Source of Scientific Information5.2.5 Delay in Disclosure of Research Findings5.3IPR in Life Sciences5.3.1IPR and Biomedical Research5.3.2IPR and Biotechnological Advances in Agriculture5.4Concluding Remarks5.5References6 Preserving the Quality of Scientific Research: Peer Review of Research Articles6.1 Introduction6.2 History of Peer Review6.3 Criticism of the Peer Review6.4 Bias in Peer Review6.4.1 Prestige or Association Bias6.4.2 Gender Bias6.4.3 Confirmation Bias6.4.4 Conservatism6.4.5 Bias against Interdisciplinary Research6.4.6 Publication Bias6.5 Peer Review and Conflict of Interest6.6 Different Models of Peer Review6.6.1 Closed Peer Review: Single- vs. Double-Blind6.6.2 Open Peer Review6.6.3 "Non-Selective" Review6.6.4 Immediate Publication With No Formal Review6.7 Manipulation of the Peer Review Process6.8 Should the Current System of Peer Review Be Continued?6.9 The Peer Review System is Under Stress6.10 Burden on Peer Reviewers6.11 Ways to Improve the Peer Review System6.11.1 Training Peer Reviewers6.11.2 Ethical Standards for Authors, Reviewers and Editors6.12 Concluding Remarks6.13 References7 Measuring the Impact of Scientific Research7.1Introduction7.2Citation Data as a Tool to Measure the Impact of Scientific Scholarly Articles7.3Impact Factor to Measure Quality of Journals7.3.1 Strengths of Impact Factor in Measuring Journal Quality7.3.2 Limitations of Impact Factor in Measuring Journal Quality7.3.3 Ability to Manipulate Journal Impact Factor7.3.4 Issues with Discipline-Specific Journal Impact Factor Variations7.4Need for Other Indicators to Measure the Journal Quality7.4.1Eigenfactor Score7.4.2SCImago Journal Rank7.4.3Comparison of Eigenfactor Score, SCImago Journal Rank, and Journal Impact Factor7.5Measuring the Impact of Individual Scientists or Groups of Scientists7.5.1Hirsch Index (h-Index) and its Variants7.6Concluding Remarks7.7Reference8 Assessing the Societal Impact of Scientific Research8.1Introduction8.2Challenges in Defining Societal Benefits8.3Research Assessment Strategies of Government Agencies in Different Countries 8.4Societal Impact Assessment Indicators8.4.1Alternative Metrics to Measure Societal Impact8.4.2 Strengths and Limitations of Altmetrics as Scientific Research Assessment Tools8.4.3 Altmetrics as Discovery Tools8.4.4 Improving Standards and Credibility of Altmetrics8.4.5 Association between Altmetrics and Traditional Citation Metrics8.4.7 Science Blogging, Microblogging, and Citation Counts8.5Conclusion Remarks8.6References9 Final Thoughts: Scientific Scholarly Communication - The March ForwardIndex