New report warns of a ‘failing system’ in scholarly publishing

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A new report, commissioned by Research Information, has asked publishers, librarians and researchers about challenges in the scholarly publishing cycle - and the answers make for brutal reading.

The Scholarly Publishing Research Cycle: Perspectives and recommendations from the publishing, library and research sectors will be published on 4 December, and unveiled at Research Information’s Challenges in the Scholarly Publishing Cycle one-day conference at the Business Design Centre, London.

The research was undertaken by David Stuart PhD, of Stuart Information Research, and combines an extensive survey of Research Information readers - from all three stakeholder groups (publishers, librarians and researchers), supported by in-depth one-to-one interviews with international, high profile representatives from each group.

While the headline revelations might not come as a huge surprise to some, the details behind them make for fascinating reading - and there are plenty of recommendations for each of the stakeholders to chew over.

Among the most important issues highlighted were: accessibility, trust and validation, changing publishing models, and open access and licensing.

The report also shows an increasingly failing system, with lack of goodwill between the different sectors: researchers are not getting (legal) access to the resources they need; publishers are being vilified (rightly or wrongly), and libraries are feeling increasingly powerless to provide the services their users require.

Results of the report will be showcased in a keynote speech at Challenges in the Scholarly Publishing Cycle, a one-day event forming a pre-conference day to London Info International on Monday 4 December, delivered by Warren Clark, publisher of Research Information, with David Stuart on hand to answer questions.

Delegate places for this one-day event are £195 (or £890 when combined with a full conference pass to London Info International), but Research Information readers can obtain a 20 per cent discount by entering the code ‘RISUB’ on the booking page (discount valid until 17 November).

For the full pre-conference event agenda and to book your place, visit: http://info-international.com/pre-conference-workshop/

Delegates will also be entitled to a free copy of the report itself, which will be otherwise available to purchase from 4 December.

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