A presentation given at the IFMSA August Meeting Pre-GA 2014 talking about Open Access and what students can do. More can be found at www.righttoresearch.org/learn/IFMSAAM2014

1. How to increase the impact
of research
Joe McArthur - @Mcarthur_Joe
Assistant Director, Right to Research Coalition
Co-founder and Co-Lead of the Open Access Button
IFMSA SCORE AM 14 Workshop Session

2. www.righttoresearch.org

3. www.righttoresearch.org

5. 80%
of research is
publicly
funded
1 Academic Publishing: Survey of funders supports the benign Open Access outcome priced into shares,
HSBC Global Research, February 11, 2013:
https://www.research.hsbc.com/midas/Res/RDV?ao=20&key=RxArFbnG1P&n=360010.PDF
1

6. www.righttoresearch.org
Free, immediate online access
to scientific & scholarly articles
with full reuse rights
As defined by the Budapest Open Access Initiative

7. www.sparc.arl.org
Current test (ELISA):
$800, high false positives
Jack’s test:
$.03, >99% accuracy, 5 min
168x faster
26,667x cheaper
400x more sensitive
100x more selective

8. “I used [free, online articles] religiously. Just
because, in most online databases, articles cost
about $35, and there are only about 10 pages…
My research should serve as a testament to free
online research (...) It was hard to get what I
needed without the costs. People should take note
and because of this project, we should make a
move toward more inexpensive or free Online
research.”
- Jack Andraka
www.vancouverobserver.com/world/how-aaron-swartz-paved-way-jack-andrakas-revolutionary-cancer-test

9. We need
more Jacks
www.righttoresearch.org

10. www.righttoresearch.org
Two paths to Open Access
Self-
archiving
Open Access
Journals

11. www.righttoresearch.org
X 2,000
1. Publish (almost) anywhere,
deposit into an open-access repository

12. www.righttoresearch.org
2. Publish in an open-access journal
X >9,700

13. Setting the default
to
Open
www.righttoresearch.org

14. www.righttoresearch.org
1,000+
Congressional lobbying visits
over the past 4.5 years

15. i) confirms the importance of students having access to
research journals and articles as part of their training;
ii) notes the high cost to institutions and individuals when
accessing scholarly literature;
iii) proposes that this could hinder medical students in their
development as ‘The Doctor as the Scientist’ as well as
developing an evidence based clinical approach;
iv) welcomes and endorses the Right To Research Coalition’s
statement on Open Access to research literature.
www.righttoresearch.org
June 25, 2012

17. www.righttoresearch.org
200,000+ views
bit.ly/OAexplained

18. www.righttoresearch.org
“…the degree of student initiative and
engagement at UBC gives this issue
a whole new impetus.”

19. But what can you do?

20. www.righttoresearch.org
Applications Open Now!
More info available at: www.opencon2014.org
Don’t delay – 400 applications in 4 days so far…

21. www.righttoresearch.org
Host a meeting in your region!
More info available at: http://righttoresearch.org/act/opencon/satellite/

22. Open Access Week: October 20-26, 2014

23. www.righttoresearch.org/act/oaweek/gogrants
Applications Open Now! Applications close August 18th
More info available at: http://www.righttoresearch.org/act/oaweek/GoGrants

24. How would you advocate for
Open Access on campus?

25. Here’s a head start…

26. $250: Local watch party
• Small screening of the kick-off event
• Discussion forum with pizza
$500: Large local events
• Screening of kick-off event with in-person speakers
• On-campus action
$1000: National events / week-long campaigns
• Lump sums for many local events
• Large conferences and innovative events
We can fund food, travel, printing etc.

27. Overprice Tags
Image courtesy of Nicole Hennig – Available at http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/391536784_5eda314050_o.jpg
• Print stickers and put
them on journals
• Helps show the true
cost of journals
• Simple and easy to do
More info at http://mako.cc/fun/overpricetags/

28. Open Access
Challenge
Image courtesy of Uvania Naidoo – Available at http://www.righttoresearch.org/blog/openucts-access-challenge.shtml
• Challenge students to
find research with and
without uni access
• Shows people how
hard it is to get access
More info at http://www.righttoresearch.org/blog/openucts-access-
challenge.shtml

29. www.righttoresearch.org

30. www.righttoresearch.org/act/oaweek/gogrants
Applications Open Now! They Close August 18th
More info available at: http://www.righttoresearch.org/act/oaweek/GoGrants

31. How would you advocate for
Open Access on campus?
5-10 minutes to discuss
- Write it down
- Give an email address

32. So what else can you do?
• Have your NMO join the R2RC
• Start a working group on Open Access within
your NMO
• Hold presentations & workshops on OA at
meeting
• Start a new project on Open Access
• Use OpenAccessButton.org
www.righttoresearch.org

33. In Summary…
www.righttoresearch.org

34. Launched in Summer 2009.
Built around the Student Statement
on the Right to Research: access to
research is a student right
International alliance of 77 graduate &
undergraduate student organizations,
representing nearly 7 million students
We Educate + Advocate for Open Access

35. www.righttoresearch.org
Thank you and Questions?
Recap this presentation + more info at:
http://www.righttoresearch.org/learn/IFMSAAM20
14
How you can talk to me
Joe@righttoresearch.org
@Mcarthur_Joe