"There are new developments in scholarly communication almost every day, some of which, for example Plan S, have an enormous impact on the scientific community. We are here to help researchers find their way in this ever-changing and complex area with information and advice."

Since April 2018, the University of Groningen Library (UB) employs an expert specialized in scholarly communication and open access in particular: Giulia Trentacosti. Giulia holds a Master’s degree and PhD in Publishing Studies from Edinburgh Napier University.

What is your role as Open Access Specialist?

The main part of my job is to provide practical information and tools for researchers as well as advice for policy officers and research support staff on everything that concerns open access and more broadly open science.
Together with the UB open access team I inform staff about developments in open access - from publication outlets to funding options. My counterpart at the UMCG is Peter Braun with whom I closely collaborate. Besides, I am the project manager of ‘Open Access Services’. This is a two-year project to further improve our open access support services university-wide.

What can researchers expect from you and the open access team?

There are new developments in scholarly communication almost every day, some of which, for example Plan S, have an enormous impact on the scientific community. We are here to help researchers find their way in this ever-changing and complex area with information and advice. We are constantly developing more user-friendly ways for UG staff to approach us and quickly find the information they need.

Tailor-made advice
If you have questions about where to publish open access (free of charge) or which licenses you should opt for when submitting your article we can help with that. If you are applying for a grant and you don’t know what the open access policy of the funder entails, turn to us. We provide tailor-made advice for researchers. Besides, we regularly issue updates on deals with publishers, funding news and guidelines through our website and the Open Science Newsletter. We organize workshops, instructions and give presentations on pressing open access issues. We also invite researchers to contribute to the Open Science Blog.

Which development in open access currently affects researchers the most? How can you help?

That is definitely Plan S. Plan S requires that, from 2021, scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants must be published in compliant open access journals or platforms. We will accompany the UG scientific community through this major transition and provide them with clear information and advice.

More information

• Open access at the UG
• Plan S
• Publish open access for free in more than 9,000 journals

Contact

openaccess rug.nl