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10.08.2015 | SSP News & Releases

Webinar Preview: Don’t miss out on next week’s “Who’s Wagging the Dog? The Role of Funder Mandates in Defining the Needs of End Users” session

The Society for Scholarly Publishing’s (SSP) fall webinar program kicks off next with “Who’s Wagging the Dog? The Role of Funder Mandates in Defining the Needs of End Users,” an hour long session to be moderated by Dr. Jonathan Adams, Chief Scientist at Digital Science. Registration remains open for the session which will run from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 13.

Attendees can expect a robust discussion of changes in funder attitudes about what constitutes legitimate scholarly output. Scholarly communication has expanded to include data sets, computer code and multimedia output and with a push from funders these output types are seeing wider exposure. Join Adams and his panel of speakers as they investigate whether peer-reviewed articles are the only way in which publishers can help researchers communicate in the current environment.

Panelist for this webinar session include, Kirsty Meddings, Product Manager at CrossRef, Simon Kerridge, Director of Research Services at Kent University and the current Chair of the UK Association of Research Managers and Administrators, and Jerry Sheehan, Assistant Director, Scientific Data and Information for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Adams along with webinar organizer Phill Jones, Head of Publisher Outreach at Digital Science, were able to answer some questions about next week’s session which should shed some light on the information to be presented.

What can attendees expect from this webinar?
Government agencies and funders around the world are shaping assessment policy and funding management in order to achieve specific goals. The impact of these on researchers and research organizations is the focus of this webinar. Many funding agencies are accountable to government; others have boards of trustees. All these stakeholders want to know more about the use of their resources, to get due credit and to ensure maximum benefit. For example, the move towards open access over the last ten years or so has been driven in no small part by funders. Those same funders are now looking towards open data and impact assessment. The panelists will discuss the emerging needs that this creates for researchers and what publishers can do to meet those needs.

How was this group of panelists selected?
The group was selected to give a broad range of views on the issues surrounding funder mandates. Jonathan Adams (chairing) has worked for government, as a university manager and for research data companies. Jerry Sheehan (OSTP) will speak about some of the programs, challenges and successes that the US government has had in this area as well as the long view on what they may be planning. Simon Kerridge (ARMA) brings a UK perspective. Some progressive mandates and assessment frameworks are UK driven, including the Wellcome Trust open access mandate and HEFCE’s research evaluation ‘impact case studies’. Simon will review problems this creates for researchers and point to possible solutions. Finally, Kirsty Meddings (CrossRef) will help put this into perspective by considering what steps publishers can take and what workflows need to be put in place to ensure that all parties can meet current and be ready for future mandate requirements.

Are there any topics in particular you hope the panelists will address during the webinar?
There needs to be a symbiosis between publishers and authors to maximize accurate and comprehensive information to meet demands on researchers. Among key themes to be explored during this webinar is the question of what publishers need to know about funder mandates. This then leads on to discussion around the unmet needs that researchers have as a result of changes in expectation among funders, and what can publishers do and what are they doing right now to enable their authors to become compliant.

What would you like attendees to take away from this webinar?
Attendees should come away with a good sense of the range of things publishers need to know and to do to help their authors be in compliance with funder mandates. Hopefully, this will also point to practical ideas about how they can add even more value to their journals by creating relevant support through their services for authors.

Please visit the webinar registration page for more information about the webinar session and to register.

By Michael Di Natale, Communications Committee

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