SpringerNature and its sharing strategy on ReadCube
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SpringerNature launched a content sharing initiative on their ReadCube platform to encourage sharing of subscription journal articles in a compliant way. They provided read-only access to full texts of 49 Nature Publishing Group journal articles on nature.com to be shared via peer-to-peer or from media/blog referrals. In the first year, they saw over 800k shared views, mostly from media referrals. They aim to continue evolving sharing features and policies based on feedback to better support collaborative research.
SpringerNature and its sharing strategy on ReadCube
- 1. SpringerNature and its sharing strategy on ReadCube Martijn Roelandse Head of Publishing Innovation
- 2. 2 The trial of free sharing of subscription journal articles “our own science experiment” Steven Inchcoombe, CPO Lessons Learned – 1 Year On Nicko Goncharoff Director of Publisher Relations Digital Science Grace Baynes Director, Business Operations and Policy Springer Nature
- 3. 3 ● Scientists have always shared their work … helping them do so is central to Nature’s mission ● It’s what the WWW was invented for… and researchers in their millions are now taking full advantage SO WHAT? ● Tools are sub-optimal (Dropbox; I can haz PDF) ● It’s a black box: for publishers/libraries ● It creates conflict: take-down notices = reputational damage
- 4. 4 Why now? An experiment was the only way to learn how to best facilitate sharing and measure opportunities and risks • Scope of sharing expanding rapidly with internet tools and networks • Authors want better tools for sharing their work • Being passive did not seem a viable approach
- 5. 5 Has duty to readers and authors to facilitate sharing that benefits research and is commercially viable Had the components (content, technology, policy) to take this first step, learn, and share results Opportunity for ReadCube to better serve researcher, institutional, and publisher customers Experiment Partners – Dec 2014
- 6. 6 Nature wanted to: ● Encourage sharing: on its own platform (nature.com); then on 3rd party platforms ● Find solutions to making sharing COUNTER-compliant ● Understand usage & need ● Provide data and experience to inform constructive discussion & solutions across the industry Our approach….
- 7. 7 49 NPG Journal Full Text Articles ReadCube Connect ‘Enhanced PDF’ technology Shareable read-only, full- text articles on nature.com NPG Content/Policy + Digital Science Technology
- 8. 8 Media Referral Readers access full- text journal articles on nature.com cited on 100 trusted news and blog sites Peer-to-Peer Subscribers send or post shareable links to NPG journal article on nature.com Sharing Methods & parameters • Read-only access to full text articles on nature.com • Use results and feedback to evolve sharing features, policy and commercial models • Share results with research and publisher communities • Supported by a “beta” policy and T&C’s • 12-month pilot (but expect it to be long-term)
- 9. 9 Sharing Statistics – Dec 2 2014 - Nov 30 2015 • About 815K ‘shared views’ during period • Most (~630K) views are referrals from whitelist media sites • Of ~184K Peer-to-Peer shares: • 67% (123K) subscribers to non-subscribers • 33% (61K) subscriber- subscriber or OA content
- 10. 10 Sharing Activity - Top Five
- 11. 11 • Steady usage, but modest numbers • Do we need to better promote among researchers? • Bulk of views are media referrals • Activity influenced by news events • Coverage of major Nature papers causes spikes in views • Media referral fits into reader workflow; peer-to-peer sharing possibly less so • P2P sharing is mostly between subscribers and non-subscribers, with the remainder often between two people who already have access • No downturn in single-article sales • Little to no instances of abuse observed Conclusions
- 12. 12 Some good... • Lots of media & social media interest • Generally positive Some bad... • Open Access: misunderstood as a move away from gold/green OA by some • DRM: consternation & concerns What we learnt from the community response
- 13. 13 What’s Next?
- 14. 14
- 15. 15 Supporting collaborative research and dissemination of scientific information with a service that can share the original paper of academic journals In addition to 1,300 journals owned by Springer-Nature, it covers more than 1,000 co- owned journals and partner-owned journals
- 16. 16 ① Users who have access rights to the articles share with their colleagues and co-workers ② Access to articles from about 100 news organizations in the world and science blog sites Two ways to access the paper
- 17. 17 ① Users with access rights share with colleagues and co- workers Until now… Share URL via Twitter or e-mail If you don’t have access rights
- 18. 18 ① Users with access rights share with colleagues and collaborators With the content sharing function ... Just by attaching share URLs to email or social media, anyone can access
- 19. 19 ① Users with access rights share with colleagues and collaborators If you do not have access to the paper, you can only browse the article (Printing, PDF saving is not possible)
- 20. 20 ② Access to articles from about 200 news organizations in the world and science blog sites Providing access to full text articles to readers of about 100 news organizations and science blog sites around the world aiming to convey deeper information on important research widely and in general
- 22. 22 Thank you!
- 23. 23 "Stand on the giant's shoulder" Newton Background Information Piling up knowledge is indispensable for the development of research. However, the current sharing method is not only complicated, but there are also cases outside the contract provision. Content sharing initiative aims to provide essential solutions to the needs of scientists who want to efficiently and legally share scientific research.
- 24. 24 Dos and Don’ts Content sharing policy Personal use - Limited to personal use purposes with colleagues and collaborators (NG as an institution) In the case of Reasonable use - Only when you are interested in sharing papers of interest with colleagues or colleagues at moderate frequency (it is NG to share large amounts of papers systematically or regularly) In the case of Non-commercial use - limited to research and educational purposes (it is not good to use it as a fee-based service or as an alternative to an existing paid service)