Module 2: Social Sciences

Disciplinairy traits

• Networking, collaborating• Young researchers: publications are a means for career

advancement• Older researchers: publishing are a means for communicating

and contributing to developments in society• Over the years more journals, less monographs• Like to cite!• Lengthy publications• Use of grey literature• Institutional guidelines

What social scientists produce Social Sciences Citation Index Output

Research Information Network Report, (2009), Communicating Knowledge: How and why UK researchers publish and disseminate their finding,[Online] Available at: http://www.rin.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/Communicating-knowledge-report.pdf

Source: Thomson Reuters Social Science Citation Index online version inJonkers, K., (2010), International Social Science Council (ISSC) & UNESCO, (2010), World Social Science Report 2010 , p. 194 [Online] Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001883/188333e.pdf

Perceptions about OA in the Social Sciences

• Overall, perception that OA is beneficial for research

• 70% of respondents of an HSS survey familiar with OA publishing

• Accessibility and efficiency the most important values of OA

• Tremendous awareness differences per country, younger scholars more familiar with Open Access.

Sources: SOAP Study and OAPEN survey

OA and publishing values

Digital Monographs in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Report on User Needs, Janneke Adema, Paul Rutten, OAPEN Project, http://project.oapen.org/images/D315%20User%20Needs%20Report.pdf (Accessed, 28/2/2011)

Resources for finding Open Access research in the Social Sciences

Repositories• The Directory of Open Access Repositories – OpenDOAR www.opendoar.org • Social Sciences Repository: http://www.ssoar.info/en.html

Open Access Journals• DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals: www.doaj.org – JSTOR: http://about.jstor.org/

Open Access Books– OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks www.oapen.org– Open Monograph Press: www.openmonographpress.org

Open Access Data– CESSDA Council of European Social Science Data Archives: http://www.cessda.org/– World Bank Open Data: http://data.worldbank.org/ – IMF Archive Material : http://www.imf.org/external/np/arc/eng/archive.htm – International Council on Archives : http://www.ica.org/– International Social Science Council ISSC: http://www.worldsocialscience.org/

Some other examples of Open Access repositories and research platforms

• EconStor: an Open Access repository for economics publications

• Social Science Research Network (SSRN): devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research and is composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences

• ISI - Social Indicators Information Service: the largest infrastructure facility in Germany, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, offers a variety of services related to the social sciences

• European Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO) an Open Access Infrastructure to bring Essential Cultural Heritage Online

What can you do:

• Deposit your articles or data in an IR or a subject repository

• Negotiate your right to self-archive with your publisher

• Ask your publisher for Open Access options

• Publish in an Open Access journal or with an Open Access Book publisher

• Encourage your editorial board to support OA

• Participate in an editorial board of an OA journal

• Convert out of print works to digital objects and deposit them in a repository

• Participate in Open Access projects when your library invites you to

• Grant receipients: check you funder’s policies

Open up, get practical!

Image from: Palepu –Giustini – BCLA Conference 2008

Remember it takes only 10 minutes per

paper to self-archive!