There will be no licence with Oxford University Press (OUP) journals from 2022. Continuing access rights are guaranteed for articles published up to the end of 2021. Access to the published articles from January 2022 from the existing journals collection of the University of Zurich will be maintained at least until the end of February.
Despite mutual efforts, it was not possible to reach an agreement with OUP on a Read&Publish contract that meets swissuniversities’ requirements. The parties leave the negotiating table without a result for the time being, but will continue talks in 2022. The Read&Publish agreements guarantee access to a publisher’s licensed journals in addition, enables UZH researchers to publish Open Access free of charge.
As soon as we receive an update to OUP we will inform again. The Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries provides information on the current status here.
Preprints are publicly shared versions of manuscripts before peer review. They have gained new importance during the present pandemic, where fast dissemination of research results is wanted. Further benefits of publishing preprints are: setting a time stamp (when the question arises who discovered a result first), gaining visibility (due to open access of preprints), receiving feedback through comments or emails, and possibly getting increased Altmetric scores and citations for the final published paper [1].
On the other hand, publishing a preprint means additional work for the researchers. Not all journals allow preprint publications, so the policies of the journals should be checked [2]. It is also not always clear, if preprints may be cited e.g. in project proposals or job applications. Preprint servers are often subject-specific, thus, a server relevant to the researchers’ target audience should be chosen. A list of preprint servers can be found here [3].
Searching for preprints is not as simple yet as searching for journal publications. Only some preprints are covered by traditional databases (e.g. in Scopus author profiles or SARS-CoV-2 related preprints in PubMed). At this time, separate relevant servers or platforms (e.g. OSF Preprints) have to be searched.
References
1 Serghiou S, Ioannidis JPA. Altmetric Scores, Citations, and Publication of Studies Posted as Preprints. JAMA. 2018;319(4):402–404. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.21168
2 Brock J. 10 tips for submitting a successful preprint. How to stand out in the fast-growing throng. Online: https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/tips-how-to-most-successful-preprint-research-science-submission-study
3 ASAPbio. List of preprint servers: policies and practices across platforms. Online: https://asapbio.org/preprint-servers
What impact does a journal have? Can this impact be “calculated”? These questions can be answered to some extent via the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). This is a platform that evaluates journals from the literature database Web of Science Core Collection. Specifically, the journals that are included in these indices:
SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded)
SSCI (Social Sciences Citation Index)
AHCI (Arts & Humanities Citation Index)
ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index)
The JCR was first published in 1976 and has been released annually since then (online since 1998). Various metrics can be evaluated, including Journal Impact Factor (JIF) or Journal Citation Index (JCI, since 2021). The most recent JCR from 2020 contains 20,994 journals.
The impact of a journal is calculated with the JIF:
However, the JIF also has its limitations: for the JIF of 2020, the citations of the publications of 2018 and 2019 were taken into account. In order to have an additional variable besides the 2-year JIF, the 5-year JIF was added. A second limitation is the use of citable publications. Only articles, reviews or conference papers are considered.
The journals in the JCR can be listed in different ways: by JIF or by category (further listings by publisher or country are planned). A comparison between journals makes sense only within the same category.
Each journal has its own overview page in the JCR and the display of the different metrics (JIF, citable item, etc.).
Since the JCR and the JIF came out, it has been criticised because the JIF is often used incorrectly: (1) whether it is to assess the quality of a paper in a journal, (2) that all publications in a journal are taken into account, or (3) that the JIF is a precise value. More on the misconceptions surrounding the use of the JIF was explained in a previous blog post.
Since 2021, a new metric has been added: Journal Citation Indicator (JCI, [PDF]). This is offered for all indices, but can be used especially for AHCI and ESCI. No JIF is calculated for AHCI and ESCI. JCI is a field-normalised metric for journals that can be used for all disciplines. The categories, year of publication and document type are normalised.
There is not only the JIF or the JCI as a journal metric. Other alternative metrics are listed here:
With this blog post we would like to provide a guideline on how to create citations and reference lists with the LaTeX typesetting environment, which is a free and open source document preparation system, especially popular among scientists who want to include mathematical and technical expressions in their documents.
In order to cite in LaTeX you need…
a *.bib file that contains the references in a specific text-only format
a LaTeX package that allows for the creation of citations and reference lists / bibliographies
a citation style (if not already included in the package)
The *.bib file
The central part of citing references in LaTeX is a text file containing the metadata of all the references the author wants to use in their document. It has the extension *.bib and is typically stored in the same folder as the corresponding *.tex file. The structure of a reference in a *.bib file is explained below.
How to get the *.bib file
We recommend that you use a literature management software to export the desired references into a *.bib file. Alternatively, for quick one-time use of a reference, you can copy the BibTeX format from many publisher’s websites and literature databases (e.g. Web of Science or Scopus). Copying the BibTeX format from Google Scholar citations is not recommended, because the data can be of poor quality, leading to incomplete data in the bibliography.
For managing references in *.bib files we recommend you to use the free software JabRef. Even if you use other literature management sofware (like Endnote, Mendeley or Zotero) to export references, JabRef can be very useful to clean up the files, change the format between bibtex to biblatex, etc.
Which package to choose?
There are two main packages that are used in LaTeX for creating citations and bibliographies.
natbib (based on bibtex) comes included in most LaTeX distributions and thus appears as «LaTeX’s native citation functionality». However, this package is partly outdated and not further developed. As an example, users experience problems with the formatting of special characters, because natbib/bibtex does not support Unicode/UTF-8. Also, the adaptation of citation styles is complex and requires programming in a postfix notation.
biblatex (based on biber) is a more modern package for bibliography management in LaTeX. It comes with many options for customization, such as…
different citation and bibliography styles and easy modification
subdivided reference lists (by type, keyword, etc.). Example: list scientific publications and online sources separately in your reference list)
several bibliographies within one document. Example: reference lists after each chapter of a book or thesis.
One drawback of biblatex is that it is not (yet) widely implemented and accepted by journals.
The biblatex package needs to be loaded in the preamble of the document. A minimal working example of the biblatex package is shown below. Please note, that the *.bib file needs to be formatted according to biblatex (and not bibtex!) in order to be compatible with the biblatex package. If your *.bib file has the wrong format, use JabRef to convert it to biblatex.
Code for copy+paste:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{biblatex}
\addbibresource{myreferences.bib}
\begin{document}
Here we write our text and insert a citation whenever necessary. \cite{mypaper1}
\printbibliography
\end{document}
Adapting citation and bibliography styles in biblatex
The BibLaTeX package offers several built-in styles to adapt the formatting of citations and references, which can be specified when the package is loaded.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{biblatex} [
backend=biber,
style=phys, %This is the style of the bibliography
citestyle=phys %This is the style of the citations.
]
\addbibresource{myreferences.bib}
\begin{document}
Here we write our text and insert a citation whenever necessary. \cite{mypaper1}
\printbibliography
\end{document}
Some of the built-in citation styles work very well, while others might require further adaption to your needs. Check out the following stackexchange post on Guidelines for customizing biblatex styles.
Which literature management software to use in combination with LaTeX?
Most literature management softwares are able to export references to *.bib files, but only some of them are also compatible with the modern biblatex package. Among them are Citavi and Zotero. As mentioned before, JabRef is a great tool for managing and cleaning up *.bib files, even if you use other software for your primary literature management.
Are you looking for geoinformation on Switzerland? Search the Swiss Geoportal, which provides geodata on various topics.
geo.admin.ch is the geographic information platform of the Swiss Confederation within the Federal Administration. The portal is an important step in the implementation of the Geoinformation Act: the platform records the official geodata of each federal office, so that the data is available quickly, clearly and completely via a single web address. The geodata can be obtained directly from the corresponding federal office. The metadata are provided free of charge by geocat, Switzerland’s geographic metadata catalog. The download of geodata is free of charge with certain restrictions (cf. terms of use).
The Mapviewer from geo.admin.ch allows geodata to be viewed. It is an intuitive application for searching, displaying and using geographic information. The desired data are available as digital maps and photos, vector data and also as online services. Users can customize many map parameters such as the map section and image size as well as the type of information displayed and the cartographic background. The result displayed on the screen can be printed on paper, saved or shared. Additional information linked to the displayed geographical objects can also be displayed.
You are searching in Web of Science, Scopus or PubMed. With the browser extension LibKey Nomad you can go straight from one of these databases to the fulltext!gelangen!
The LibKey Nomad browser extension is available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave and Vivaldi.weiterung LibKey Nomad gibt es für Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave und Vivaldi.
In 2017, Switzerland has developed its National Open Access Strategy. The vision is that by 2024, at latest, publications originating from public funding should be available in Open Access. With the help of an action plan and various measures, this goal is to be achieved. The following action lines have been developed:
National monitoring
Communication and awareness raising
Reform of research evaluation
Negotiations with publishers
Bundling of services and infrastructures
Regulatory framework/OA self-archiving
Participation in international initiatives and infrastructures
Alternative forms of publication
Accordingly, achieving the goal of 100% Open Access should follow a combined approach. In the meantime, some measures have already been implemented: f. ex. Read&Publish contracts have been concluded, an Open Access monitor has been launched at UZH and one is currently being planned at the national level, the range of information on Open Access has been expanded, and much more.
The UZH offering of HOPE fits into the latter action line “alternative forms of publication”. HOPE stands for Hauptbibliothek Open Publishing Environment.
HOPE provides a platform to researchers of the University of Zurich for publishing in Open Access journals. This service is offered by the Main Library of the University of Zurich based on the infrastructure of the Zentrale Informatik. For management and publication of scientific journals, the open-source software Open Journal Systems (OJS) is used.
By publishing Open Access journals by researchers, the overall Open Access share should be increased, missing Open Access journals in certain disciplines can be covered and the dependency on the big publishers and their pricing can be minimized.
In addition to many other functionalities, journals can be configured according to individual requirements in the OJS backend.
There are now 10 Platinum Open Access journals from various disciplines in different designs published on HOPE.
The OJS publication system allows submitted articles to be navigated intuitively through the system. Reviewers can be contacted directly from the system and copy-edited final articles can be posted online with a few clicks at the end of the publication process. The articles are provided with all relevant metadata such as DOI, Creative Commons licenses, they are searchable by search engines and can be easily exchanged via various interfaces. The highest possible visibility of the articles is achieved, which also increases the probability of being cited.
Why should you consider publishing your own journal and use alternative forms of publication?
There is currently no suitable OA journal in your scientific discipline
The cost of publishing (APCs) in OA journals is too high with commercial publishers
If you want to increase the overall OA share
If you want to flip your existing journal to OA
If you want to be independent from big publishers – why not starting your own journal?
Contact us if you have further questions: oai@hbz.uzh.ch and www.hope.uzh.ch
When browsing online we often find content that we would like to copy and reuse in our own work. But are we allowed to do so? Who do we need to contact to find out? Which conditions apply?
Online content that is not labelled is generally protected by copyright and should never be copied into your work unless you have asked for permission first.
The Creative Commons (CC) licenses are an easy tool for creators of content to communicate that their work is available for reuse and to communicate the rules for the reuse, e.g. that you must be attributed as the creator.
On the other hand, the CC licenses are an easy way for the users to see that content is allowed to be reused and to find the conditions for the reuse.
What kind of content can be labelled with Creative Commons?
The CC licenses can be applied to almost any online content that can be copyright protected, e.g. artwork, graphics, photographs, music, educational resources, presentation slides, databases, e-books, research papers and research data.
Content that can be labelled with Creative Commons
What license options are there?
A overview of the various license options is shown in the table below. More details can be found on the website of the Creative Commons. If you unsure which license to choose for your own work, try out the CC Licence Chooser.
Overview of various CC licence options
How to Find CC images that you can reuse in your own work
Visit the Commons Search to search for reusable images from several platforms. You can also limit your search by works that can be reused commercially or those that allow for remixes.
Author Impact Beamplots present a new visualization tool in Web of Science. They showcase the range of a researcher’s publication and citation impact in a single data exhibit.
Beamplots make use of field-normalized citation metrics (percentiles). They put the citation counts in a larger context. Furthermore, they do not unduly penalize those with gaps in the publication record or those who work in fields with distinctly different publication activity. Beamplots allow you to verily compare author performance even across subject categories.
As the Author Impact Beamplot is more a profile than a metric, it should be considered in academic appointments, promotions, and funding decisions.
Each dot on the beamplot represents a publication. In each year, the green circle is the median percentile value for publications in that year, and the overall average is shown using a vertical dotted line. A score of 90 means that the paper is among the top 10% most cited publications. A score over 50 indicates above-average citation performance.
When hovering over the elements of the beamplot, one can see article, citation and percentile information and click through to view the full data set.
The introduction of filed-normalized percentiles to measure citation impact is a crucial aspect of beamplots that addresses many criticisms of the h-index relating to comparability across disciplines and biases to portfolio size and continuity.
