[3] Open Access and Open Data at a research library: PUBLISSO by ZB MED

Abstract: Background/Purpose: PUBLISSO is an open access publishing platform for life sciences. The website is aimed at all researchers working in the field of life sciences who wish to make their work and research data freely accessible through open access publishing. It also caters to anyone working in the field of information science. PUBLISSO offers advice and workshops on all aspects of open access (OA).

Aim/Objective/methods: PUBLISSO offers a range of open access publishing platforms for scientists and researchers working in the field of life sciences, enabling them to publish their research findings and data in different types of publications. There is the chance to publish the research results in quality-reviewed specialist journals under the open access system. There is also the opportunity for speedy publication of proceedings and papers from conferences, meetings and congresses. That helps boost communication and cooperation between scientists and researchers and makes people’s research work more efficient. Living Handbooks is an open access publishing platform run by ZB MED in collaboration with GMS gGmbH. It enables authors to publish scientific handbooks under the open access model. The goal is to provide access to up-to-date scientific information by drawing on the worldwide cooperation of experts in each specific discipline. The ‘living’ nature of the handbooks allows authors to add and update their contributions at any time (versioning). The quality of the texts is guaranteed by experts through the peer review process, and the content is brought to life by images, research data, audio and video files. According to the German Research Foundation, research data can essentially be defined as data which can be digitally and electronically stored and which arises in the course of a research project. This includes source research, experiments, measurements, data collection and surveys, to give a few examples. Research data is used to support scientific analyses and propositions. It forms the basis of scientific publications, but in the PUBLISSO repository it can also be published in its own right.

Results/Conclusions: The presentation will show that the open access paradigm can be a new way for research libraries to be a partner for the scientist.

Bio: Ursula Arning is the head of Open Access Publishing and Advisory Services from ZB MED – Information Centre of the Life Sciences (Cologne/Germany) since 2013. Before, she worked as a librarian from the Goethe-Institute in Córdoba/Argentina and studied Library and Information Science in Stuttgart/Germany.