November 2024 Scholarly Communications Round-up

Learn more about PubMed Central’s efforts towards equitable access, publisher agreements for discounts or waivers of Article Processing Charges, and the Smithsonian Open Access images collection.

PubMed Central Announces Efforts Towards Equitable Access for Content

PubMed Central (PMC) is undertaking efforts to enable equitable access to PMC content for users with disabilities who use assistive technologies to access online content. As a start content in PMC is displayed in structured HTML that is compatible with assistive technologies. Publishers who provide data to PMC also have to deposit content tagged with Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS) XML used to describe scientific content online. Content includes text, tables, figures and formulas, which will further enhance accessibility to the full content.

Looking to Publish Your Work as Open Access?

Becker Library has over 15 memberships or agreements with publishers that allow for waivers or discounts for Article Processing Charges (APCs) for articles published under an Open Access license. These agreements with publishers repurpose subscription fees into funding to offset or waive APCs for authors who wish to publish their articles as Open Access. Our most recent agreement is with Elsevier with over 2,500 journals, including Cell Press and Lancet journals, eligible for a waiver or discount of APCs.

Smithsonian Open Access

Need images for your presentations or course materials? The Smithsonian Open Access images collection has nearly 5 million 2D and 3D digital items that users can download, share and reuse, without requiring permission from the Smithsonian. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo.

Readings:

Brainard J. Suspicious phrases in peer reviews point to referees gaming the system. Science Insider. September 11, 2024. https://www.science.org/content/article/suspicious-phrases-peer-reviews-point-referees-gaming-system

Gibb BC. The chemical sciences need introverts too. Nat. Chem. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01657-z

Kugler L. Who owns AI’s output? Communications of the ACM. October 4, 2024. https://cacm.acm.org/news/who-owns-ais-output/

Zou J. ChatGPT is transforming peer review – how can we use it responsibly? Nature. 2024 Nov;635(8037):10. doi: 10.1038/d41586-024-03588-8.  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03588-8

Couzin-Frankel J. Preprint on Alzheimer’s drug deaths ignites dispute among authors. ScienceInsider. November 7, 2024. https://www.science.org/content/article/preprint-alzheimer-s-drug-deaths-ignites-dispute-among-authors

Wosen J. These 7 watchdogs scour scientific papers for problems — and often find them. STAT+. November 4, 2024. https://www.statnews.com/2024/11/04/who-to-know-series-science-sleuths-watchdogs-academic-research-fraud/