User-driven scholarly communications - The Stockholm University Library example

Abstract

See video of the presentation.

Stockholm University Press (SUP) has implemented a working model for the development of their services where exchange of ideas and best practices between the press staff and the researchers is driving development. This is done through strategic partnerships nationally and internationally, as well as with the active researchers at the university. SUP aim to build a sustainable model for publication of peer-reviewed books and journals by optimising our involvement in these networks and by sharing knowledge and information openly.  The success of scholarly communication relies on indexing and dissemination. The dissemination channels created need to be in place from the very beginning of the development of a new press. However, most indexes require that you already have content to show in order to add their quality stamp to the press. How do we deal with this catch 22?

Stockholm University Press was founded in 2014, and published its first Open Access books in early 2015 with one academic journal is already up and running. Three more journals will be added to the list in 2016.  SUP have implemented editorial practices for transparency and quality assessment, which are necessary in order to create the level of credibility needed to gain trust among dissemination channels.  Building the press also include an intrinsic function to evaluate the work with the help of publication data in combination with so-called ‘allmetrics’.  The data will then be reused to empower the author by providing tools for analysis of these numbers for the individual as well as the entire university. So, how do we create these incentives, and how do we make them count? How do we make the press and library activities worthwhile for the entire University?

The last quarter of the development loop includes learning tools for researchers at the institution where we can share knowledge about scholarly communication in general, based on the publication metrics we can provide and the lessons learned with the press. This is a work in progress, and something we would like to share with the delegates. The new learning environment is intended to become intrinsic in the publishing process and can drive development of knowledge and technology based on user involvement and input.

This presentation aim to further describe the case of Stockholm University Press, how we plan to move forward in the immediate future, and last but not least show plans for further developments of learning tools and services for researchers. The iterative development processes used are supported by the practices of open access, both to knowledge, data and research results.