East African Community launches provincial journal

The East African Science and Technology Commission or EASTECO has launched a local journal to promote research in science, technology and innovation. This is a step forward to improve sharing knowledge among the scientific community. The most interesting thing is that this is the first journal of its kind in the region. It is funded by six EAC states. EASTECO’s executive sectary, Gertrude Ngabirano said they aim new information which can be used to address issues disturbing the region. It will also help come up with evidence-based policies.

Reference Link: https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1497716/eac-launch-regional-science-journal-promote-research-innovation

Cambridge University Press accepts Open Access agreement

Cambridge University Press has reached a major Open Access contract with higher education and research institutions in Sweden. The three-year ‘read and publish’ deal has agreed with Bibsam – an association of 85 higher education and research institutions, led by the National Library of Sweden. It indicates that the authors from institutions affiliated to Bibsam can publish their publicly-financed research articles in the Press’s hybrid and fully Open Access journals. It also gives Bibsam members full access to the Press’ full collection of nearly 400 journals from 1 January 2019.

Reference:http://www.stm-publishing.com/cambridge-university-press-signs-major-open-access-deal-in-sweden/

How does one figure out which journals to submit a paper to?

There are several parameters to consider while deciding the journal where you wish to send your paper for publications. The parameter include alignment of the subject of your work to the aims and scope of the journal, the word count, impact factor, readership, indexing, and publishing fees. One might also opt for journal selection services provided by the publication support agencies.

De Gruyter and Gorgias Press go into partnership

Gorgias Press and De Gruyter have come together to form a editorial and commercial agreement for Gorgias Press titles. This agreement will entitle eBook versions of all Gorgias Press titles to be available on degruyter.com. The contract includes the Gorgias Press output of 75 titles per year and a backlist of more than 3,000 titles, all well-known in their fields for their excellent level of quality.

Reference Link: http://www.stm-publishing.com/de-gruyter-and-gorgias-press-enter-partnership/

Predatory journal has firm grip on universities in Ottawa and Canada

Scientists from the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa Hospital and other renowned institutions across Canada have been publishing their findings in fake science journals, spoiling the work despite years of warnings. One veteran science publisher warns all the work that produced these studies “is just thrown away.” Until recently, the scope of the problem of “predatory” journals has been hard to measure. Now, a known name in the fake publishing field, OMICS International of India, has enhanced the search engine for 700 journals. As a result, we found hundreds of Canadian scientists publishing recently with the Indian firm — the same company that has accepted the newspaper’s analysis of how pigs fly.

Reference Lin: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180113063351529

More than half of UK-authored research articles are made accessible

According to the report commissioned by Universities UK Open Access Coordination Group the share of UK research which is freely available is increasing at a considerable rate. 37% of UK outputs are available via open access to public view either through Gold or Green OA within 12 months. The trend of UK-authored articles published open access went up from 12% in 2012 to 30% in 2016, an annual growth rate of over 30% sustained throughout the period.

Reference Link: http://www.stm-publishing.com/37-of-uk-research-outputs-freely-available-immediately-at-the-time-of-publication-says-new-report/

De Gruyter and United Nations participate for free-available book project

De Gruyter and United Nations mutually decide to work on publication of two open access books on mathematics. The books are authored for physicists and engineers and will serve as the foundation mathematics course under the syllabus of the Regional Centres. Both books are accessible to everyone and from everywhere. The first volume includes Linear Algebra and the second volume focuses on Probability and Statistics.

Reference Link: http://www.stm-publishing.com/de-gruyter-and-united-nations-cooperate-on-open-access-book-project/

Open-access Journals Are Valuable To Transform Science

open accessMichael Eisen, an acclaimed biologist at UC Berkeley and co-founder of the Public Library of Science, has resolved to change the way scientific findings are circulated. His PLOS publishes some of the widest and most prestigious academic papers in the world. He aims to provide open access, meaning anyone having internet connection can read them for free. Currently, most research papers are locked behind paywalls, and unlocking those documents costs hundreds of dollars per article. This prevents the general public and scientists from being updated about new researches although they are funded by U.S. taxpayers. PLOS has started an initiative called open science movement to break up the academic publishing conglomerate.

Reference link: http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/11/30/open-access-science-publishing-plos