Researchers' And Medical Student' Experience in Reference Management Software in a Low-Income Country.

INTRODUCTION: Although the use of Reference Management Software (RMS) is increasing in developed countries, they seem to be unknown and less used in low-income countries. AIM: To discover the major trends in the use of RMS among researchers and Ph.D. students in Tunisia, as a low-income country. METHODS: A hardcopy survey was filled out by researchers and Ph.D. students during an educational seminar at the faculty of medicine of Sfax in 2016 with the aim to collect qualitative data to determine the participants' knowledge and use of RMS. RESULTS: The survey collected 121 participants, among them, 53.7% know RMS. Mendeley proved to be the best-known software (41.5%), followed by Zotero (35.3%) and Endnote (23%). Training sessions in RMS were taken by 5% of participants. Among the 121 participants, 26.5%of them use RMS., Mendeley was the most used (46.9%), followed by EndNote (28.1%) and Zotero (25%). The most commonly popular feature in RMS is inserting citations (66.9%). Therefore, the analysis, of the reasons behind the choice of RMS proves that the software was used because it is convenient (38.4%),  most known (38.4%),  easy (30.7%), or suggested by colleagues (30.7%). The free and open-source software was preferred by 81% of the participants. g. However, 50.4% ignore the fact that Zotero is free. Several types and sources of captured citations were unknown by 53.8% and 59% of the rest of the participants. CONCLUSION: The results clearly show that the lack of awareness about RMS in Tunisia is due to the absence of a formal training. As a result, the need for such training is highly important for researchers to be able to benefit from the different advantages of RMS while conducting their academic medical education.

Badges to Acknowledge Open Practices: A Simple, Low-Cost, Effective Method for Increasing Transparency.

Beginning January 2014, Psychological Science gave authors the opportunity to signal open data and materials if they qualified for badges that accompanied published articles. Before badges, less than 3% of Psychological Science articles reported open data. After badges, 23% reported open data, with an accelerating trend; 39% reported open data in the first half of 2015, an increase of more than an order of magnitude from baseline. There was no change over time in the low rates of data sharing among comparison journals. Moreover, reporting openness does not guarantee openness. When badges were earned, reportedly available data were more likely to be actually available, correct, usable, and complete than when badges were not earned. Open materials also increased to a weaker degree, and there was more variability among comparison journals. Badges are simple, effective signals to promote open practices and improve preservation of data and materials by using independent repositories.

LERU roadmap towards Open Access.

Money which is not directly spent on research and education, even though it is largely taxpayers´ money. As Harvard University already denounced in 2012, many large journal publishers have rendered the situation "fiscally unsustainable and academically restrictive", with some journals costing as much as $40,000 per year (and publishers drawing profits of 35% or more). If one of the wealthiest universities in the world can no longer afford it, who can? It is easy to picture the struggle of European universities with tighter budgets. In addition to subscription costs, academic research funding is also largely affected by "Article Processing Charges" (APC), which come at an additional cost of €2000/article, on average, when making individual articles Gold Open Access. Some publishers are in this way even being paid twice for the same content ("double dipping"). In the era of Open Science, Open Access to publications is one of the cornerstones of the new research paradigm and business models must support this transition. It should be one of the principal objectives of Commissioner Carlos Moedas and the Dutch EU Presidency (January-June 2016) to ensure that this transition happens. Further developing the EU´s leadership in research and innovation largely depends on it. With this statement "Moving Forwards on Open Access", LERU calls upon all universities, research institutes, research funders and researchers to sign this statement and give a clear signal towards the European Commission and the Dutch EU Presidency.

Cálculo del valor económico de una muestra de publicaciones seriadas de la Biblioteca Médica Nacional cubana / Calculation of the economic value of a sample of serial publications in the National Medical Library of Cuba

Se realizó una investigación de tipo descriptivo longitudinal prospectivo con el objetivo de elaborar una propuesta metodológica para obtener el valor económico de la colección de publicaciones seriadas impresas como activo fijo tangible de la Biblioteca Médica Nacional cubana, por la prioridad de estos documentos para la difusión del conocimiento científico. Se fundamentó el procedimiento para obtener y calcular los precios de las publicaciones seriadas impresas adquiridas en la institución. Se destacó la importancia de valorar las colecciones para enfrentar auditorías internas y externas en la institución, contratar servicio de seguros, fundamentar programas o proyectos de financiación y para la toma de decisiones en el intercambio y descarte de las colecciones como un bien institucional tangible. La técnica utilizada fue la recopilación documental para la obtención y recolección de los elementos que se van a valorar. Se consultaron fuentes de información documentales primarias y secundarias. Se propuso un método para obtener el valor económico básico anual de las publicaciones seriadas impresas que mide el monto económico desembolsado para adquirir la colección en la institución, así como un método de depreciación acelerada para obtener el valor depreciado anual que expresa el valor actual de la colección en el año que se escoja, ajustado por el factor de depreciación. La metodología propuesta en esta investigación debe ser capaz de estimar los valores actuales de los precios de las publicaciones seriadas.(AU)

A investigation of longitudinal prospective descriptive type was carried out with the objective to elaborate a methodological proposal to obtain the economic value of the collection of serial publications printed as fixed tangible asset of the National Cuban Medical Library, for the priority of these documents for the diffusion of the scientific knowledge. The procedure was based to obtain and to calculate the prices of the printed serial publications acquired in the institution. It stood out the importance of valuing the collections to face internal and external audits in the institution, to hire service of sure, to base programs or financing projects and for the decisions in the exchange and discard of the collections like a very institutional one tangible. The used technique was the documental summary for the obtaining and gathering of the elements that will value. Documental primary and secondary sources of information were consulted. It intended a method to obtain the basic annual economic value of the printed serial publications that measures the economic mount paid to acquire the collection in the institution, as well as a method of quick depreciation to obtain the depreciated annual value that expresses the current value of the collection in the year that is chosen, adjusted by the depreciation factor. The methodology proposed in this investigation should be able to estimate the current values of the prices of the serial publications.(AU)

John Lawson's "A New Voyage to Carolina": notes on the publication history of the London (1709) edition.

John Lawson's "A New Voyage to Carolina," an important source document for American colonial natural history, was first printed in 1709 in "A New Collection of Voyages and Travels," a two-volume set that also contained travel books translated by John Stevens. Lawson's publishers were leaders in the book trade of early eighteenth century London, and the "New Voyage" is typical of the resurgent popular interest in foreign travel narratives and exotic flora and fauna that began in the late 1600s. The "New Collection" was among the earliest examples of books published in serial instalments or fascicles, a marketing strategy adopted by London booksellers to broaden the audience and increase sales. Analysis of London issues of the "New Voyage" indicates that the 1709, 1711, 1714, and 1718 versions are simply bindings of the original, unsold sheets from the 1709 "New Collection" edition, differing only by new title-pages, front matter, and random stop-press corrections of type-set errors. Lawson's "New Voyage" illustrates important aspects of the British book trade during the hand press period of the early eighteenth century.

"Lansania Journal of Arachnology and Zoology" - a rare and obscure Japanese natural history journal.

Publication data relating to a rare and obscure Japanese journal "Lansania Journal of Arachnology and Zoology" (1929-1941) are examined. Available facts, together with a substantial body of circumstantial and anecdotal evidence suggest that many planned issues, including several cited by independent sources as having been published, were not published. Some biographical data relating to the editor, Kyukichi Kishida (1888-1968), are provided. Titles of all papers known to have been published in "Lansania," with page numbers and claimed publication dates are presented, together with a list of 113 new zoological names proposed in the journal. Known library holdings of the journal worldwide are indicated. Details are provided of unpublished manuscripts in proof obtained from Kishida in the 1960s. The strong probability that some printed publication dates are inaccurate is discussed in detail.