Consultation on the arrangements for research assessment in the second Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) was announced earlier today. This consultation was published by the four UK funding bodies for higher education. It seeks to incorporate the recommendations outlined in the Stern Report published earlier
The results of a new research study show that by publishing work in an open access repository, citations were boosted by up to a fifth. The University of Michigan observed what happened when they made papers available (through green open
Today we’ve got a real treat for you, a post written by Laura Ennis, Edinburgh Napier University’s Information Services Advisor for the School of Life, Sports and Social Science. So sit back, grab a sandwich and a beverage of your choice and have
The European Union Competitiveness Council met on 27th May in Brussels. Following the meeting, it made a major announcement that by 2020 all scientific articles in Europe must be freely accessible. EU ministers responsible for research and innovation made a unanimous decision to carry
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) has announced it’s going to remove around 3,300 journals from its directory today. DOAJ recently ran a re-application exercise for all the journals in its directory, which reflects the higher criteria for indexing. Every contact
If you’re thinking of doing some research over the summer, we’ve got some great resources to help you. Have you seen our Decision Tree? This is a step by step look at key stages through the process of doing research.
Over the next few weeks ‘Act on acceptance’ roadshows will be taking place in campus foyers. HEFCE’s rules about eligibility for the next REF are changing from 1st April 2016 and yet again from 1st April 2017. There’s a real risk that an essential deadline
Last year we blogged about the development of a new service that wasn’t quite available yet, called Sherpa REF. The beta version of Sherpa REF is now available for use and as it’s the beta version, the developers are also very keen to
Offset APCs are a new, rapidly changing area as publishers offer discounted or free Article Processing Charges as part of their journal subscription packages. The offset APC offers vary widely, from limiting them to a certain number, offering a certain percentage off
We have just added an act on acceptance page to this blog but…what does it mean? Over the next year or so the rules about making your work eligible for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) are going to change…twice! There is a very real