Cambridge University Press Open Access Agreement

Thanks to a new agreement with Cambridge University Press (CUP), the University�s authors will be able to publish their work Open Access (OA) in the publisher�s OA journals free of charge. As a result, papers from Cambridge authors will be immediately and freely accessible to audiences around the world, benefitting from increased exposure and dissemination whilst leading to more citations and downloads. Submitted papers will still go through the individual journal�s rigorous peer review processes, maintaining the high quality research published by CUP. More information can be found in the University's open access website.

Dutch research institutions and Elsevier initiate world�s first national Open Science partnership

The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU), the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU), the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and Elsevier have reached a national deal that includes Open Access publishing and reading services. The partnership runs until 31 December 2024.

Chief-negotiator/President of Delft University of Technology Tim van der Hagen said: �This deal is a breakthrough in our ambition for 100% open access in the Netherlands and a prelude to a public knowledge base for information about scientific output.�

Questions and answers around the Elsevier VSNU agreement were published on 19 May whilst a critique of the deal asking if it is consistent with Dutch Open Science goals, and if undesirable platform effects will be avoided was published the day after in Leiden Madtrics, the official blog of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University.

CRUK: We support Plan S principles and will adopt an immediate open access policy from January 2022

On 30 April 2020 Cancer Research UK (CRUK) stated that they support the aims and many of the key principles of Plan S, in particular its goal of making peer-reviewed scholarly research articles immediately openly accessible for all, emphasising that "COVID-19 has turned the spotlight on the public health importance of quick and effective dissemination of research, including immediate open access to peer-reviewed research articles".

Over the past year and a half, CRUK has consulted with researcher and patient communities and asked their views on open access publishing. There are researchers who have concerns about the impact of Plan S upon implementation in January 2021, particularly concerning their ability to publish in hybrid journals. CRUK stated that while they "are becoming a supporter of Plan S, and adopting an immediate open access policy that will come into effect from January 2022, [they] are not becoming a signatory at this stage, and will still provide funding for open access publishing costs for Cancer Research UK (CRUK)-funded articles in hybrid journals".

Cambridge University Press initiatives

COVID-19 Resources and Information
Authors are encouraged to submit any manuscripts describing COVID-19 or coronavirus-related research for publication in CUP�s Open Access (OA) journals. The usual OA fees are being waived for such papers until the end of June and the editorial process for these articles has been adapted meaning publication of the accepted manuscript should be within 24 hours of receipt. The waiving of the OA fees for these papers applies globally. More information plus details about free access to CUP reference works and HTML textbooks, as well as a Coronavirus Free Access Collection can be accessed on CUP's website.

Cambridge Open Engage
In early April, CUP�s new content platform Cambridge Open Engage launched. It publishes early and open research outputs including preprint papers, abstracts, conference proceedings, conference posters, grey literature, and open data. The content will be open and free to the reader, as well as free to the author to upload.

eLife launches service to peer review preprints on bioRxiv

eLife announced the launch of Preprint Review, a new initiative that brings expert peer review to the preprint server bioRxiv.
Preprint Review offers authors who have embraced the speed and efficiency of sharing their research as preprints the opportunity to have eLife review their work directly on bioRxiv and simultaneously considered for publication in the journal.

Michael Eisen, Editor-in-Chief of eLife said, �The explosion of COVID-related papers on bioRxiv and medRxiv demonstrates the important role preprints can have in accelerating science...but it also highlights how urgently we need a fast and effective system to help readers navigate and assess the reliability of new reports.�

Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at Wellcome, applauded this development and added that "through Preprint Review, eLife continues to demonstrate its commitment to changing the scholarly communications system."

Research Skills Programme brought to you by Cambridge University Libraries

The Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC) in collaboration with several libraries across the University has created an online course on research skills for the students, researchers and staff of the University of Cambridge with particular relevance for PhDs and postdocs. Modules are being released each week, covering:

Publishing academic monographs

Research Data Management

Searching the literature

Building your online profile

In addition, a virtual drop-in offers researchers the opportunity to ask questions in person. These online courses are open to everyone. Enjoy learning!

Reading Lists Online - Libraries supporting education in Cambridge

Reading Lists Online is a new way of working using a system called Leganto which can easily be integrated with Moodle courses, iDiscover and Library purchasing workflows and now forms an essential part of Cambridge�s critical response for students in the face of COVID-19. More and more of library content is provided electronically and is accessible to all Cambridge students. A set of webpages has been developed to support this initiative led by Libby Tilley (Head of A&H Libraries and CUL Lead for Education).

cOAlition S announces price transparency requirements