Weekly highlights – 12 October 2015

1. Quotes

Sioux Cumming has received many positive messages in response to the recent introduction of iThenticate software through CrossCheck to editors of journals on the Sri Lanka Journals Online, Bangladesh Journals Online and Nepal Journals Online platforms. Here are three of the comments:

“Thank you so much for your mail and the initiatives you are doing to enhance the quality of the articles published by the journals through the site Sri Lanka Journals online (SLJOL). This is another support INASP is giving to Sri Lanka to uplift the quality of Sri Lankan Journals, thanks once again.”

“Yes, we would be interested in using CrossCheck. In the past we have had one or two articles that we suspected had some issues (re plagiarism) and we checked them manually. Having access to CrossCheck would be useful!”

“We have a major problem with plagiarised articles, especially from foreign authors. All this time we have been using free online plagiarism checkers, which does not allow checking the whole paper but parts of the paper due to word limitations. I believe iThenticate will allow us check the papers more easily and accurately and increase the standards of our journal.”

2. Updates

• Julie Brittain will succeed Sue Corbett as Executive Director of INASP from January 2016.
• There are now 15,000 full-text journal articles free-to-read on Bangladesh Journals Online.
• Ravi Murugesan has created a Storify of posters from the recent World Association of Medical Editors conference.

3. Upcoming events

• Between 12 and 14 October two local experts will facilitate a workshop on e-resources in Vietnam.
• Sioux Cumming, Andy Nobes and Julie Walker will be accompanied by five winners of JOL grants to the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) including Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Seminar on 12 and 13 October in London.
• Communications Coordinator Siân Harris will participate in a panel discussion on open access at the Frankfurt Book Fair on 15^th October.
• Sioux Cumming will be travelling to AJOL in Grahamstown, South Africa from 18-22 October in order to participate in the training of interns who will be assessing journals against the Journal Quality Tiers. This methodology will then be used for the JOL journals.

4. Recent publications

• Local experts lead e-resource workshop in Vietnam – INASP News, 9 October, 2015 From 12 to 14 October 22 people will take part in an Introduction to Electronic Resources workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam
• Journals Online project introduces iThenticate to editors in developing countries – INASP News, 8 October, 2015 INASP’s Journals Online project has introduced iThenticate software to the editors of journals on the BanglaJOL, NepJOL and SLJOL platforms through CrossCheck.
• Embedding research writing skills at a medical school in Sri Lanka – INASP News, 7 October, 2015 INASP Associate Ravi Murugesan presented a poster on the collaboration between INASP and the Research Promotion and Facilitation Centre (RPFC) at the University of Colombo at the first WAME conference.
• Call for Applications: AuthorAID Gender Grants 2015 – AuthorAID, 7 October, 2015 We’re pleased to announce a new set of grants related to gender.
• Tip of the Week #254 – AuthorAID, 7 October, 2015 If you wish to include in your manuscript an image from another source, be sure to obtain permission and cite the source, writes Bernard Appiah.
• ‘Think. Check. Submit.’: An Aid for Evaluating Potential Publication Sites – AuthorAID, 5 October, 2015 Barbara Gastel considers Think. Check. Submit, an INASP-supported campaign that helps researchers determine whether a journal is somewhere to consider publishing research.
• INASP appoints new Executive Director – INASP News, 2 October, 2015 From January 2016 Julie Brittain will be the new Executive Director of INASP, taking over the role from Sue Corbett.
• INASP staff and library consortia partners attend and speak at ICOLC – INASP News, 1 October, 2015 INASP staff and library consortia partners attend and speak at ICOLC.
• New industry campaign helps researchers make informed choices about publishing – INASP News, 1 October, 2015 A new cross-industry campaign launches today – Think. Check. Submit. The campaign will provide information for researchers, through an online hub at www.thinkchecksubmit.org, about the criteria they should look for when selecting where to publish their research.
• Insights into the state of research systems in developing countries – Part Two – Practising Development, 1 October, 2015 Sue Corbett looks at the persistence of “old problems” and complex challenges for research in the south.

5. External coverage

• From animals to earthquakes: communicating South Asia’s research – Research Information, October/November 2015
• Journals Online project introduces iThenticate to editors in developing countries – Research Information, 9 October, 2015
• Insights into the state of research systems in developing countries Part 2 – Politics & Ideas, 8 October, 2015
• Insights into the state of research systems in developing countries Part 1 – Politics & Ideas, 6 October, 2015
• Think. Check. Submit: helping researchers publish – Information Today Europe, 2 October, 2015
• Think. Check. Submit. (How to Have Trust in Your Publisher.) – Scholarly Kitchen, 1 October, 2015
• Think. Check. Submit launched – Research Information, 1 October, 2015
• New study highlights need for researcher support – ThinkCheckSubmit.org, 1 October, 2015
• Think, Check, Submit. A helpful checklist for researchers – Biomed Central blog, 1 October, 2015
• Ubiquity Press Supports Think, Check, Submit – Ubiquity Press blog, 1 October, 2015