Open access in the news

• In case you missed this, the WU faculty senate adopted a resolution which encourages faculty members to make their scholarly and creative works freely available online. Article in WU Record | WU faculty open access resolution
• As you consider publishing with the open access resolution in mind, you may have questions about your options, your copyright, etc. I may not have all the answers but I'd be happy to discuss these issues. Call or email me or stop in at Olin Library. Thanks. Ruth Lewis rlewis@wustl.edu 314-935-4819
• There has been a lot of discussion this month about a new open access journal that won't even be available until summer, 2012! Little is known about exactly how this journal will operate or even what its title will be. However since it's coming from the Wellcome Trust, the Max Planck Society and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute it will probably be excellent. Announcement Watch for the call for papers! Indications are that there will be no author fees, at least initially. [Nov.5, 2011: I learned that the title of this new journal will be eLife and the first issue is expected in late 2012. ]
• 2010 impact factors are now available in JCRweb. While the impact factor is not the only or even best method to evaluate the quality of a journal, it is one method that is widely discussed. Some open access journals in the biomedical & life sciences are ranking well. Katie Newman at UIUC Library has posted a nice summary: 2010 Impact Factors are Out!.
• Also interesting: Open access comes of age Nature 474, 428 (2011) | doi:10.1038/474428a | Free Science, One Paper at a Time (on Wired blog), about Jonathan Eisen's efforts to republish his father's papers