Cell Press transforms article methods section to improve transparency and accessibility

Amid discussions around scientific reproducibility, the leading biomedical journal Cell will introduce a redesigned methods section to help authors clearly communicate how experiments are conducted. The first papers using Structured, Transparent, Accessible Reporting (STAR) Methods, which promotes guidelines encouraged by reagent labelling and animal experimentation initiatives, appear in Cell on August 25. The format will then be adopted by other Cell Press journals over the next year, starting with Cell Systems in the fall.


STAR Methods promotes rigor and robustness with an intuitive, consistent framework that integrates seamlessly into the scientific information flow--making reporting easier for the author and replication easier for the reader. The focal point is the "Key Resources Table," which offers an overview of the key reagents and resources (e.g., antibodies, animal models, or software) used to produce the results in the paper.


More at: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/cp-cpt082516.php


Note: unfortunately, while 'easy access' to related data is included in the recommendations, a formal data citation is not.

Connecting research systems

Simon Porter, Digital Science, has a new White Paper on connecting research systems, which he calls  Research Data Mechanics.

The paper (11pp) is on Figshare at: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3514859.v1

This paper is attracting a great deal of attention! 

2016-2017 Scholarly Communications Experts Directory Now Available

We are pleased to announce that the 2016-2017 Scholarly Communications Experts Directory is now available. We invite you to take advantage of this resources to connect with experts on a variety of topics as you plan your fall outreach strategies, Open Access Week events, upcoming publications and presentations, and your other scholarly communication activities.

This edition includes responses from a diverse group of over 130 Digital Commons users who have expertise in 34 different areas of scholarly communications and repository management. Each expert is profiled with his or her complete scholarly communications record, specific areas of focus, and publications on relevant topics.

You can access the directory at the link above, or at http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/expertsdirectory/3/. Feel free to share it with your colleagues! Questions or comments? Contact me at outreach@bepress.com.

NOTE: Community thinks this is a marketing exercise for BePress

Born Digital Week 2016

Libraries across Australia and New Zealand have launched an inaugural digital preservation week (8-12 August) to mark 25 years of life on the web.

http://www.nsla.org.au/news/born-digital-2016-promoting-digital-preservation-and-25-years-life-web

Germaine Greer's archive: digging up digital treasure from floppy disks

Kate Stanton | The Guardian | 5 August 2016

Archivists trying to preserve material stored in obsolete formats face a mighty challenge in retrieving decades of work by the Australian writer and feminist.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/05/germaine-greer-archive-digital-treasure-floppy-disks

Accessing born-digital content

Gareth Kay | National Library of Australia | 9 August 2016

A look at the challenges of born-digital content in the National Library's collection.

http://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/preservation/2016/08/09/accessing-born-digital-content

Nature article: Legal confusion threatens to slow data science

http://www.nature.com/news/legal-confusion-threatens-to-slow-data-science-1.20359

Researcher who spent months chasing permission to republish online data sets urges others to read up on the law.

03 August 2016

"... some of the data sets that he wanted to use had clear licences ­— and some of these prevented unrestricted redistribution, but others did not. The most frustrating part of his project, he says, was the feeling that good data were going to waste because their creators could not clarify whether he could republish them."

Article tools

Point of view: How open science helps researchers succeed (elife sciences)

Abstract

Open access, open data, open source and other open scholarship practices are growing in popularity and necessity. However, widespread adoption of these practices has not yet been achieved. One reason is that researchers are uncertain about how sharing their work will affect their careers. We review literature demonstrating that open research is associated with increases in citations, media attention, potential collaborators, job opportunities and funding opportunities. These findings are evidence that open research practices bring significant benefits to researchers relative to more traditional closed practices.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16800

Published July 7, 2016

Cite as eLife 2016;5:e16800

UK: Concordat on Open Research Data launched

Four of the UK’s leading research organisations have, today, launched a concordat that proposes a series of clear and practical principles for working with research data....

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/160728/?platform=hootsuite

Australian Lawyers And Scholars Encourage Civil Disobedience In This Year's Census

The 2016 Australian Census will not be anonymous, and a lot of people aren’t happy about that. A group of Australian privacy advocates, including a professor of computer science and a former NSW deputy privacy commissioner, are raising concerns, and some are encouraging Australians to avoid the Census, refuse to fill it out, or to use civil disobedience — like listing their religion as “Jedi Knight” — to skew the accuracy of results....

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/03/australian-lawyers-and-scholars-are-encouraging-civil-disobedience-in-this-years-census/

NWO (Netherlands) is making 3 million euros available for a Replication Studies pilot programme.

NWO is making 3 million euros available for a Replication Studies pilot programme. In this programme, scientists will be able to repeat research that has been carried out by others. The pilot focuses on replicating studies that have a large impact on science, government policy or the public debate. This is the first special funding programme in the world for the repetition of such ‘cornerstone research’. With this initiative NWO wants to facilitate innovation in science and encourage researchers to carry out replication research.....

http://www.nwo.nl/en/news-and-events/news/2016/nwo-makes-3-million-available-for-replication-studies-pilot.html