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Jisc Publications Router update

In my last post, covering most of the Jisc services and projects supporting OA, i said that we’d post an update on the Jisc Publications Router shortly, and this is it.

The Jisc Publications Router is a project at EDINA to develop a viable prototype service to pass metadata and/or full text papers from journals (and other sources) to institutional systems such as repositories. Its current priority is to do this within three months of acceptance, to help universities comply with the REF OA policy.

While the project ends in July, Jisc is very much aware if the high demand for solutions in this area, and we have no intention of halting work. We do need to decide exactly how that will be done, taking into account the successes of the current working prototype, a fast-changing environment, and other factors. So, we are currently taking stock, with a view to making a decision on how Jisc will provide the services offered by the Router from August onwards. Note that we are not deciding whether such services are provided; that seems a clear “yes”, providing they are feasible. We are just taking stock of how they are implemented, and will make a decision in the next six weeks or so.

Rest assured, whatever happens, there must be continuity for the universities, publishers and others working with the Router. That is the priority.

By Neil Jacobs

JISC Programme Director, Digital Infrastructure (Information Environment)

2 replies on “Jisc Publications Router update”

Neil, please, on no account let publishers be the ones to monitor and ensure compliance with either RCUK or HEFCE/REF mandates.

Institutions can monitor this by requiring the dated acceptance letter to be deposited alongside the accepted draft.

Best wishes, Stevan

Dear Stevan (if I may)

Jisc Publications Router should not have the effect of giving publishers the role of monitoring compliance with any funder’s OA policy. Its central objective is to help institutions capture on their own systems (repositories and CRISs) details of their researchers’ published articles. This will, in turn, help them to see for themselves which outputs have complied.

The Router forms part of a suite of OA services to help them do this. Taken with RIOXX (a consistent metadata profile for repositories) and the Jisc Monitor prototype applications, it will help institutions see exactly how their outputs have been made open, and to report on this to funders. And, of course, Router should help them achieve open access in the first place – with the content captured locally on their own repositories.

It should also be stressed that the Router doesn’t replace authors’ ability to self-archive. Self-archiving alone has not yet resulted in repositories capturing as many papers as we would all like, so we’re taking action to help, not replace, self-archiving.

Steve

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