IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Quarterly Newsletter: October 2010

Members of PSPB SPC:
Pictured from Left to right

- 1st row:
Lawrence O. Hall, Jacek M. Zurada, Pradeep Misra, Jens Hannemann, Chair, PSPB SPC, Curtis A. Siller, Jon G. Rokne

- 2nd row:
Kenneth Dawson, Guest, Karl R. Varian, W. Ross Stone, Michael R. Lightner, Saifur Rahman

Not Pictured: John Baillieul, Gerard H. “Gus” Gaynor, Donna L. Hudson, Lloyd A. “Pete” Morley, Vincenzo Piuri,
Edward A. Rezek, Ravi M. Todi, Robert J. Trew

In August 2010, the IEEE Board of Directors approved a statement with respect to the IEEE’s position on open access and public access. IEEE endorses the principle of providing open access as one of the ways to enhance dissemination of publicly-funded research results in ways that serve to strengthen science and engineering, encourage innovation, and serve the greater interests of society.  At the same time, IEEE believes that there needs to be a sustainable economic model that pays for the value added to the work by IEEE through peer review, editing, dissemination, and perpetual maintenance of an ever-growing online archive.

The updated statement offers five main points:

• The IEEE will engage in the public dialogue to ensure that the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed, financially sustainable journals remains an essential part of IEEE’s mission as a learned society.
• Open access can coexist with traditional publishing – IEEE will continue its policy to allow authors to post their peer-reviewed articles on their own Web sites, or those of their employers.
• Public access is best done on existing platforms of publishers – this preserves the peer-review process that ensures the integrity of the research presented.
• Any public access approach must respect the intellectual property rights of authors and publishers.
• The IEEE will continue experimentation with open access and monitor its impact on the organization.

The IEEE will also examine commercial sponsorship as a possible method to make hybrid open access sustainable. IEEE believes that any such sponsorship should be done in such a way as to preserve the editorial independence and integrity of the publishing process.

"I am very pleased that IEEE has a position on open access after several years of discussion. This position was arrived at through discussions in the PSPB SPC meetings in San Diego and Vancouver with the invaluable input and support of TAB and final input from the IEEE Board of Directors,” explained Jon G. Rokne, Vice President, IEEE Publication Services and Products.  “The position statement means that IEEE can go forward with a clear vision for open access which both responds to the open access movement desire for clarity and also protects IEEE and its societies from the erosion of their abilities to support their programs."

A web-based application that assists IEEE conference organizers in obtaining IEEE Xplore®-compatible PDFs from their authors is now available through PDF eXpress PLUS. In addition to checking the PDF for conforming with IEEE Xplore requirements, the author can now also post his or her validated PDF on the site so that the conference publication or technical program chair can collect it. The IEEE Conference Publications Operations and eXpress Conference Publishing teams are recruiting new users to take advantage of this new solution. 

Several new subscription options are now available via the latest update to the IEEE Xplore® Digital Library. The IEEE Foundations for Smart Grid Standards subscription package, IEEE Conference Library Plus subscription product for mid-size corporations, and a free trial edition of the IEEE-Wiley eBooks Library mark three new options.   Details of the new subscription options are:

• The Smart Grid package includes 54 active standards, six active current drafts, 35 archival editions of active standards and 66 archival drafts. IEEE’s leadership role in defining technical standards makes this offering one of the most authoritative collections of SmartGrid technical standards.
• New authentication options deployed now provide support for Athens and Shibboleth authentication. In conjunction with other available authentication methods, the new Athens/Shibboleth capability allows universities, corporations, and government agencies to serve remote users as effectively as their on-site users. IEEE is partnering with several identity management federations such as the UK Access Management Federation, InCommon in the United States, and others around the world to bring this additional authentication option to its global subscribers.
• NESC on Mobile.  The National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC) is now available for use on mobile devices as a single purchase item from IEEE mobile publications. The NESC published exclusively by IEEE sets the ground rules for safeguarding individuals during the installation, operation or maintenance of electric supply and communication lines and associated equipment. 

This time the award goes to Potentials Magazine for its September/October 2009 issue on the topic of what electrical engineers are doing to help avert major disasters. Potentials received a 2010 Apex Award for Publication Excellence in Technology & Science Writing. “This award is the result of hard work by all of the authors, each of whom took time out of their busy professional schedules to contribute to this special disaster themed issue,” said Craig Causer, Managing Editor, Potentials.  Adding, “the input of Potentials Editorial Board Member Suzanne Rivoire and IEEE Member Ray Floyd was invaluable in producing the issue. I would like to thank all of the authors and volunteers for continuing to make IEEE Potentials a quality resource for engineering students and young professionals.”

Kudos to Craig Causer, Suzanne Rivoire, Ray Floyd, the authors, volunteers, staff, and Ravi M. Todi, Editor-in-Chief for a job well done. 

Three parts of the PSPB Operations Manual have been changed. There are two additions and one is an update to an existing section. The new parts are in Section 8.1 which addresses Publication Policies. The update is to Section 8.2.4 which covers Allegations of Misconduct.

• Section 8.1.10 - Correcting Metadata in Xplore addresses what happens if an error is discovered within the metadata records for periodicals, conference proceedings, standards, press books, educational courses, and multimedia files contained in Xplore. Requests for corrections must identify the error(s), recommend an appropriate correction, and provide a statement of justification for correcting the error. Requests that alter the author’s original intent of the manuscript or that involve a possible breach of publications policy are unacceptable. The Staff Executive – Publications is responsible for assigning the investigation, confirming the error and ensuring the correction is passed on to staff within the IEEE Publications department for execution. If an error is confirmed staff will modify the IEEE metadata record itself and add an annotation to the bibliographic view in Xplore to describe the correction for the user. The full-text document associated to the metadata will not be changed. 
• Section 8.1.11 - Removing Access to Content in Xplore has been added to address the increase in the number of requests related to this issue. This new policy states that under an extraordinary situation, if it may become desirable to remove access to content in Xplore requestors must identify the publication and provide a detailed justification for removing access. The request will be investigated and validated. The final decision for removal remains with the Vice President – Publication Services and Products. If the request approved, staff will be instructed to retain the original metadata record but annotate it with a note regarding the status of access to the full-text document. The original full-text document deleted may be replaced with a new notice stating the reason for removal or, the original full-text PDF may be retained annotated with comments regarding the disposition of the claim. The Vice President – Publication Services and Products determines the resolution which is final and not subject to appeal. 
• Parts of Section 8.2.4 have been clarified to ensure that authors and the Intellectual Property Rights Office are notified of final decisions involving author bans in a timely manner. Staff has developed and distributed a “Plagiarism Investigation Checklist” to help volunteers and staff to complete the plagiarism process, including how to handle author notifications. Volunteers and staff are not to inform the employer of an author found in violation of Publication Principles, and a ban period that was never put in place should be re-established going forward.

For more information on the PSPB Operations Manual  (PDF, 1.3 MB) contact Pete Morley or Jo Germano.