Module 2: Digitalisation in Research

New publishing practices: preprints and overlay journals

Jana Lasser

TU Graz & CSH Vienna

2021-11-25

Publishing workflow

Each of these article versions can also be published by the authors via self archiving.

Publishing workflow

Each of these article versions can also be published by the authors via self archiving.

Publishing workflow

Each of these article versions can also be published by the authors via self archiving.

Publishing workflow

Each of these article versions can also be published by the authors via self archiving.

Publishing workflow

Each of these article versions (e-prints) can also be published by the authors via self archiving.

Motivation for self-archiving

Accessibility: self-archiving of preprints, postprints or journal versions constitutes "green" Open Access.

Speed: self-archiving of preprints allows for faster sharing of results, without waiting for peer-review.

A short history of sharing preprints

1960: The first preprints are shared as hard copies to get feedback before submission.

1991: arXiv, the first online preprint server launches.

2010: arXiv gets increasingly popular among computer scientists to rapidly share research.

2013 - 2019: A number of other disciplinary preprint servers are launched (bioRxiv, PsyArXiv, medRxiv, ChemRxiv, SocArXiv).

2020: The need to rapidly dissemniate COVID research boosts popularity of preprint servers.

Name Discipline(s) Size Indexing
arXiv physics, CS, ... 1,890,000 Google Scholar, Europe PMC, SciLit, PubMed, SHARE, ADS, SINSPIRE-HEP, PrePubmed
HAL all 840,000 Google Scholar, OpenAIRE
Zenodo all 790,000 OpenAIRE
bioRxiv biology 107,000 Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, Europe PMC, Crossref, PubMed, SHARE
OSF preprints all 2,290,000 Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, SHARE, Unpaywall
medRxiv medicine 15,000 Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, Europe PMC, Crossref, PubMed
chemRxiv chemistry 14,000 Google Scholar, Europe PMC, Chemical Abstracts Services, Crossref, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus
PsyArXiv psychology 13,000 Google Scholar, SHARE, Microsoft Academic, Unpaywall

Information from Wikipedia and ASAPbio, accessed on 2022-12-14.

Overlay journals

Idea: Provide quality assurance as overlay on top of a preprint server.

Workflow: Either an editor picks relevant articles and contacts the authors or authors submit to the overlay journal.

Examples: The Journal of Open Source Software, Quantum, Logical Methods in Computer Science.

Is this a thing?

Journal Discipline(s) Publications Impact Factor
The Journal of Open Source Software Computer Science 337 0.89
Quantum Quantum Physics 162 6.77
Logical Methods in Computer Science Computer Science 84 0.66
Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science Computer Science 41 0.47
Discrete Analysis Maths 22 1.85

Information from Wikipedia, accessed on 2022-12-14.

When am I allowed to self-archive?

Obstacles for self-archiving:

The Ingelfinger rule: journals commit to only publishing findings that haven't been published elsewhere.

Before publishing an article, journals require a Copyright Transfer Agreement. Oftentimes these agreements include exclusive exploitation rights (reproduction, distribution, communication).

While authors hold the copyright of the content of the article (at least before signing it away), publishers might hold the copyright for the formatting of the article.

What to do if I want to self-archive?

(1) Check the self-archiving policy of the journal you intend to publish in at Sherpa Romeo.

(2) Try to negotiate non-exclusive exploitation rights with the publisher. See this page for an example of an alternative contract clause.

(3) Use your right to secondary exploitation (§37a öUrhG) and publish regardless of the signed Copyright Transfer Agreement.

When can I do secondary exploitation?

  • Your institution is funded to at least 50% by tax money.
  • The journal that has regular issues (at least two / year).
  • The publication date is longer than 12 months past.
  • You self-archive for non-commercial purposes.

    • If you meet all these conditions, you are allowed to self-archive regardless of your Copryright Transfer Agreement. You have to name the source of the primary publication. Both Austria and Germany have such a law.

    Exercise [10 min]

    Go to Sherpa Romeo and check the self-archiving policy of the three top journals you either regularly publish in or regularly read articles from.

    Try to identify at least three additional journals in your field with non-restrictive self-archiving policies. Make a list of these journals.