You may notice that the H-index in your Pure profile shows a different number to the one on Google Scholar. Here we explain why…

What is the h-index?

The H-index is a measure to show a researcher’s productivity and impact. Although convenient as an assessment tool, it has received valid criticism because it favours older, male academics and assumes ‘citations = impact’, when it has been shown that the practice can be manipulated.

As an academic at Edge Hill University, your Pure profile will display your H-index by default (see above image). This though, can show a different number to the H-index displayed in a Google Scholar profile. Here is the same author’s h-index in Google Scholar:

This shows the total h-index to be 49, so 13 points higher than the number quoted in Pure.

Why the difference?

The reason for the difference is that the figure in Pure is taken from Scopus, not Google Scholar. H-index numbers are lower in Scopus compared with Scholar because there is less content – Scopus has around 43 million items, whereas Scholar has been estimated to include around 300 million – far more than any other database. This doesn’t make Scopus an inferior source, it indexes high quality journals admitted on the basis of merit, whereas Scholar uses a powerful algorithm to pull in anything it can find on the web that ‘looks’ academic. This includes dissertations, theses, and some poor or even so-called ‘predatory’ journals.

Why use the number from Scopus?

On a practical basis, Scopus is used because both it and Pure are Elsevier products, and as such can exchange data. Google Scholar however, does not share such data with other platforms.

What should I do?

If you don’t want to display your Scopus h-index, you edit the setting and do this. Go to: edit profile > Portal Profile > untick the box.

For more information please contact Liam Bullingham, Research Support Librarian: liam.bullingham@edgehill.ac.uk

Normally, to publish an article with a major publisher like Sage, researchers can only make their work open access by depositing it in Pure (‘green open access’). This is because making the work free to read on the journal’s webpages (‘gold open access’) carries a fee called an ‘article processing charge’ (APC) and can cost up to £3000.

For the remainder of 2019 though, Sage Publishing is offering Edge Hill authors a ‘zero rate APC’ deal – facilitating free gold open access.

There are a few conditions such as already-published or in-production articles being excempt. If you’re interested in benefitting from the deal, please contact Liam Bullingham, our Research Support Librarian to learn more: liam.bullingham@edgehill.ac.uk

Note: This blog post was originally shared on the Research Office blog. Find it here

If you’re a Pure user at EHU, by the time you read this you’ll have greater visibility of the open access (OA) status of your research outputs in the Pure back-end.

In the Assessment section of the output record, you will be presented with a colour-coded marker that tells you if REF OA compliance has been met, not met, or if Pure can’t determine it from the information supplied. You’ll also be given the dates that inform that OA status.

This information only appears if the output falls within the scope of the REF2021 Open Access Policy (i.e. articles that were accepted since April 2016), but knowing the OA compliance status can help you decide whether you need to request a REF exception for that output.

Remember:

• If you have any questions about your outputs,please contact Library and Learning Services.
• Questions about the REF or any other aspects of Pure can come to the Research Office.

This week we’re hosting a series of free events to celebrate Open Access Week 2019, open to everyone. Here’s what’s on offer:

Join Monday’s webinar here and sign up for a place on Wednesday’s ‘Board Games and Pizza’ here.

On Tuesday morning, we have ‘Open Access and My Research’ – a research cafe delivered in the informal style of a TED Talk. Three brilliant researchers share thoughts, tips and insights around open access and what it means to their research. Come join us at 9:30am in H2, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Ormskirk campus.

We have a series of great events for Open Access Week this year. All are welcome!

Monday 21st October, 12-1pm
Open Book Publishers webinar
Learn about the work of this award-winning, non-profit, academic-led publisher that releases 20+ open access books a year and doesn’t charge its authors any fees!

Tuesday 22nd October, 9:30-10:30am | Room H2, Ormskirk campus
Research Cafe: Open Access and My Research
Researchers from all three faculties to share why they make their work open and what doing so means for collaborations, impact and society.

Wednesday 23rd October, 11:30am-1pm | Willow room, Catalyst
Board Games & Pizza
Enjoy free pizza while playing ‘The Game of Open Access’ or, if you’re really up for the challenge you could try ‘The Publishing Trap’. We’re trialling these games to start conversations and help demystify the world of open access.
– Book your place here

Friday 25th October, 9:30-10:30am | Willow room, Catalyst
Figshare: making research open and easy to find
Learn about Figshare, a great new place to share research data, practice research, academic posters, conference presentations and more. Figshare is open, has a global reach and makes your work discoverable.

About International Open Access Week
International Open Access Week is a global, community-driven week of action to open up access to research. The event is celebrated by individuals, institutions and organisations across the world, and is is led by a global advisory committee.

For More Information about Open Access Week please visit: http://www.openaccessweek.org/

#OAweek

Learn about the work of this award-winning, non-profit, academic-led publisher that releases 20+ open access books a year and doesn’t charge its authors any fees.

A special webinar for Open Access Week 2019, hosted by Library and Learning Services and free to everyone!

Lucy Barnes, Editor at Open Book Publishers, introduces this award-winning, non-profit, academic-led open access publisher. They don’t charge author fees; they publish innovative and acclaimed titles; and their books have been accessed over 2 million times. Interested in finding out more or publishing with OBP? Join us on 21 October!

Time: 12-1pm on Monday 21 October
Join the webinar: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/bca23dc33eae41ffaca170a062e2b261
All are welcome

Open Access Week

It’s International Open Access Week on the 21st -27th October.

The theme this year is “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”. The idea behind Open Access Week is to catalyse new conversations and create connections.

Library and Learning Services are running a series of events for OA week including a special research cafe and a board games & pizza event and more.

Free pizza and drinks while you boost your open access knowledge playing some great games!

It’s International Open Access Week on the 21st -27th October.

The theme this year is “Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”. The idea behind Open Access Week is to catalyse new conversations and create connections.

If you’re a research student or researcher and want to know more, please join us in the Catalyst’s Willow Room on Wednesday 23rd October 2019 to play ‘The Game of Open Access’ or if you are really up for the challenge you could try ‘The Publishing Trap’. We’re trialling the games to start conversations and help demystify the world of open access.

Book your place here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/open-access-week-board-games-pizza-tickets-74656534705?ref=estw

About International Open Access Week

International Open Access Week is a global, community-driven week of action to open up access to research. The event is celebrated by individuals, institutions and organisations across the world, and is is led by a global advisory committee.

For More Information about Open Access Week please visit: http://www.openaccessweek.org/

#OAweek

Last month, we shared the news that we have decided to replace Web of Science with Scopus. This was due to a steady drop in usage for Web of Science, and the extra possibilities offered by Scopus, including a greater range of items and its ability to enhance Pure.

Our access to Web of Science ends on 30 September. If you have literature searches saved in the platform, or you wish to download information from the Journal Citations Reports service, now is the time to act. You can take a note of the saved searches and create and save these in Scopus by registering for an account.

Please contact liam.bullingham@edgehill.ac.uk if you would like any support with this.

Elesevier are delivering a special Scopus training session on Thursday 21 November, hosted by Library and Learning Services in the Catalyst.

The workshop will be delivered by Michaela Kurschildgen, Consultant and Customer Success Specialist at Elsevier and covers the following:

Part one:
– hands-on training covering searching, filters, search results data visualtions, etc
Part two:
– research metrics and indicators

Want to join us?
Date and time: 10-1230 on Thursday 21 November.
We only have 10 places left. Please email liam.bullingham@edgehill.ac.uk if you would like to attend the workshop.

Why run this training?
Following a successful trial over the Summer we now have Scopus, which replaces the Web of Science service. Scopus features 23,500 serial titles and 75 million items, so being able to utilise its features to search and record items is paramount for getting the most out of the database.

Is any other Scopus training available?
Research students and staff can book onto our ‘Literature Search for Research’ workshop on 7 November, which is part of the Researcher Development Programme. The session focuses on searching using Scopus. Book via MyView.

We’ve been evaluating our academic literature databases over the Summer and learned there has been a steady drop in the use Web of Science, a multidisciplinary citations database. To see whether an alternative may work better, we ran a trial of Scopus during July.

With over 23,500 serial titles and 75 million items, Scopus has a broader reach than Web of Science, indexing more academic journals and also couples a clean interface with features such a suite of data visualisations for your search results. Additionally, it works better with Pure, the University’s research information repository.

The Trial

During July we set up a trial subscription to Scopus – this was a big success! We received lots of requests to subscribe and the platform earned favourable comparisons with popular tools like Google Scholar (you can see some comments here).

The Decision

Given that Scopus received such positive feedback from staff and students, and has improved scope and usability, we have taken a multidisciplinary approach and decided to move from Web of Science to Scopus. As such, access to WoS will cease at end of September and we will have Scopus live from 16 September.

All students and staff will be able to access Scopus, and we are confident you find it a big improvement. We are arranging training for mid-November, and our ‘Literature Search for Research’ session is already available for booking via MyView. If you have any saved searches or alerts from Web of Science which you would like to transfer across to Scopus, please contact liam.bullingham@edgehill.ac.uk for support with this.