An OA article can present high quality research just as easily as a subscription article can exhibit low-quality research. Open Access is more about accessibility than it is about quality.

Last week we told you about Predatory Publishers. This week we're exploring Open Access Publishers and Open Access Journals.

If you use Google to do research, chances are you've found scholarly articles from high-caliber publishers like Elsevier or Taylor & Francis.

Ever notice that some articles appear to be "free" with the click of a mouse, but others charge a subscription or have a hefty per-article cost? In some cases that's because you're accessing a subscription the VDOT library has paid for (so you don't have to).  But not always. 

How about the new journal you just discovered that calls itself an "Open Access" transportation journal?  Open Access?  What's that even mean?  

To help guide you through this new publishing model we created a new guide called "Understanding Open Access."  

Open access (OA) journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the readers "without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself" and they are a growing thing in the research world. Translation: OA articles are free to access as long as you have an Internet connection.  

But are they any good?  Answer: Yes!  And sometimes no...

Turns out that sometimes research articles that are expensive to buy are not super high quality, just as some very high quality articles from journals with high annual subscription fees are now being made available to anyone for free under a new publishing/access model called "Open Access."  

Believe it or not, some types of research now require that articles funded in certain ways be published in an OA format to ensure the public has ongoing access. 

Learn more though our guide Understanding Open Access and as always, let us know how we can help you. At the VDOT Research Library, our job is to help you do your job. 

Ken Winter
Ken.Winter@VDOT.Virginia.gov
434-962-8979

P.S. BTW, if you are ever prompted to pay a fee for an article you need at work (Open Access or not) you can dodge the fee by sending a request to the library's document delivery service.  We'll get you what you need at no cost to you!
 

If you've ever been approached to submit a research article by a journal you're not sure is legitimate THIS GUIDE is for you!
 

Ever heard of "Predatory Publishers" or "Predatory Open Access Publishing?"  

Maybe those terms are familiar, maybe not, but either way researchers in the transportation sector are being bombarded with e-mail invitations to submit articles or serve on the editorial review boards of journals that sound legitimate but may in fact be "predators."  

Personally, I suspect this issue is hardly focused on "researchers" but may be experienced by VDOT personnel any all districts/divisions. Heck, I got an e-mail this week inviting me "Dr. K Winter" to join the editorial review board of an "open" transportation journal — and I'm just a humble librarian!  If you want a laugh take a peek at what they sent me, or maybe just check your own e-mail in box because it's pretty clear this is robo-spam.
 

To help busy professionals understand what all this is about the VDOT Research Library has created this Guide to Understanding Predatory Publishers. 
 

Typically, such publications are "Open Access" journals, broadly defined as journals that are free of restrictions on access (e.g. subscription fees) and free of many/most restrictions on use (e.g. certain copyright and license restrictions). In other words, anyone with an Internet connection can get to the full text content. These days some reputable publishers (like Elsevier and Taylor and Francis) provide an open access option  —  for a fee.

We'll cover that fee, sometimes referred to as an "Article Processing Fee" in a guide on Open Access that we'll publish next week.

But the real issue is that "Open Access" (a great concept) is suddenly intertwined with questionable publishing practices and some journals that are an outright sham designed to take advantage of professionals who want to establish a legitimate record of publication.
 

As always, let us know how we can help and if you think this post is helpful  share it with a friend and remind them that ANYONE CAN SIGN UP to receive e-mail notifications for Connections, the VDOT Research Library's E-Newsletter.  Just look for this subscription option on the right-hand side: 

After all, our job is to help you do your job.

Ken Winter
Ken.Winter@VDOT.Virginia.gov
434-962-8979

This quick start guide provides a perfect introduction for VDOT employees who have never used ASTM Compass.

Check out the Library's latest quick start guide for full-text "desktop" access to nearly 140,000 standards, technical reports, and papers in ASTM Compass.

Already a user? Why not forward this info. on to a friend at VDOT?

After all, the agency's subscription allows "unlimited simultaneous usage." That means multiple employees can access the same document, in the same resource, at the exact same time! That's true for ASTM and AASHTO standards, and AASHTO E-Books like: 

• Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, 4th Edition
• Highway Safety Manual, 1st Edition
• Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals, 1st Edition, 2017 Revisions
• A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (The Green Book), 6th Edition
• Roadside Design Guide, 4th Edition with 2012 Errata
• AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications- 7th Edition with 2016 Interim Revisions
• Transportation Asset Management Guide: A Focus on Implementation
• ​Manual for Bridge Evaluation, 2nd Edition with 2016 Interim Revisions.

Resources are available in PDF or HTML formats with all kinds of Support Materials (including a new set of video tutorials) to help you get in, get started and get your job done, regardless of where you are or what kind of device you're using.

You heard that correctly, even when you are not on the VDOT network (like from home, a meeting or any time you're using a connected handheld device) you can use your Virtual Library Card for "Remote Access" to this and all of VDOT's subscription databases.

Questions? We're here to help.

Ken Winter
Ken.Winter@VDOT.Virginia.gov
434-962-8979

AMOnline: Desktop access to more than 5,000 papers, posters and presentation slides from the 2017 TRB Annual Meeting. 

Visit this guide to TRB 2017 presentations by VDOT employees to see some of the amazing transportation research, innovations and best practices going on at state DOTs - especially VDOT - as well as "practice-ready papers" to help you manage your daily job responsibilities.
 

The guide breaks down key presentations day by day, with links to full-text documents and detailed instructions to help you establish online access to TRB's AMOnline Portal, free to every VDOT employee, regardless of whether you attended the TRB Annual Meeting or not.

You can find step-by-step login instructions at: http://library.virginiadot.org/guides/vtrc/trb2017/amonlineportal and if you have any trouble contact technical support for the site or give the library a shout.

Once in you can search the compendium of papers for more than 5,000 program presentations from the 96th TRB Annual Meeting (January 8-12, 2017), plus you can get access to thousands of publications from TRB Annual Meetings held 2011-2016!  A PDF of the Annual Meeting Final Program is also available through AMOnline. To log in, use your VDOT e-mail address.

Annual Meeting registrants should login as follows: For the user name, enter the same e-mail address you provided when registering for the meeting. For the password, they should enter your 6-digit Annual Meeting confirmation number (found on your name badge or registration confirmation). Can't remember? Check VDOT's Hosted Mail Archive (HMA) with TRB@spargoinc.com as the sender.

Need a TRB paper from the Annual Meeting before 2011?  

The library has you covered for TRB Conference Proceedings back to 1998, with one of the most complete collections of TRB publications in the country, including earlier conference proceedings papers in print, CD-ROM, DVD and on flash drives.

Whether it is in print, CD, DVD, flash drive or Online Portal, the Library's Document Delivery Service can find what you need and send it at your request.  Simply fill out this Online Request Form. 

After all, our job is to help you do your job.

Ken Winter
Ken.Winter@VDOT.Virginia.gov
434-962-8979