Open access 'Gold' budgets now available

Are you an Aston author?  If "yes", we are pleased to inform you that two budgets are now available to cover the publishing costs of 'Gold' open access (OA) journal articles.  OA publishing is all about sharing research freely and openly to all readers online, indeed many funding bodies, both public and private, now mandate for various levels of OA publishing, eg. HEFCE, RCUK, EC and the Wellcome Trust. 

'Gold' OA publishing involves the payment of an article processing charge (APC) - this includes the OA fee and/or page printing charges.  OA articles can be published in either wholly OA journals, eg. the extensive range of journal titles in Europe PubMed Central, or in hybrid journals (usually as an additional option), eg. many of the journals published by Elsevier and Wiley.  The library at Aston administers payments for these APCs - we can use the RCUK budget (£33,000 for 2014-15) relating to research funded (wholly or partly) by AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC or STFC, or the institutional budget (£35,000 for 2014-15) relating to other research projects. 

Because the APC budgets are limited consideration needs to be given to aspects such as high journal quality, potential REF submissions and the imposition of any lengthy embargoes by the publishers relating to the parallel 'Green' OA publishing process, ie. self-archiving in Aston's research repository AURA/Aston Research Explorer. (Please note: funding bodies also mandate in relation to this 'Green' aspect).  If you are submitting an article for publication, or have recently had an article accepted in a high quality journal, and would like to be considered for a 'Gold' APC payment please contact Malcolm Horne, Open Access and Research Repository Specialist (m.horne@aston.ac.uk, x4506), for advice and more information. For queries and more information relating to the aspect of 'Green' OA publishing please contact Erica Wine, Open Access and Research Repository Specialist (e.wine@aston.ac.uk, x4956), or Malcolm.  If you would like to know more about the general benefits of OA publishing please contact your Information Specialist in the library.

Catch up on Research Bites 2013

Research Bites 2013 was a success!  The short, informal seminars held on Wednesdays throughout July and August featured topics relevant to researchers at all levels. Every seminar was captured by Aston Replay and they are all now available to watch online. 

Topics for this year's seminars included:

• Fine-tune your literature searches
• Measuring Research Impact: yours and others’
• Using Endnote to organise your references
• What can Open Access publishing do for you? 
• Managing your Research Data 

You can find more details about the topics and a link to the Aston Replay recording for each in the full programme on the Research Bites 2013 webpage.
If you would like to download the PowerPoint slides for any of the topics, you can also access the Aston Replay recordings, PowerPoint slides and further information via Library Matters on Blackboard > Info for Research > Research Bites 2013.

If you missed your opportunity to recieve a copy of vitae's publication, The informed researcher: Because interacting with information is at the very heart of your research, which features a self-assessment tool for information literacy and maps these skills against the Researcher Development Framework, you can download a copy instead.

Research Bites 2013 announced!

The programme for the Research Bites 2013 seminars has now been announced. These short, informal seminars will be held in MB146 on Wednesdays at 1pm throughout July and August, and feature topics relevant to researchers at all levels. Whether you want a quick refresher on a single topic or a comprehensive updating of your information and research skills, you will find something for you.

Topics for this year's seminars include:

• Fine-tune your literature searches
• Measuring Research Impact: yours and others’
• Using Endnote to organise your references
• What can Open Access publishing do for you? 
• Managing your Research Data 

You will also receive a copy of vitae's publication, The informed researcher: Because interacting with information is at the very heart of your research, which features a self-assessment tool for information literacy and maps these skills against the Researcher Development Framework.

You can find the full programme and more details about each topic on the Research Bites 2013 webpage.