|
 Hosting an open access seminar
A great way for you to advocate open access, and support BioMed Central, is to organise an open access seminar at your institution.
Use these events to raise awareness amongst researchers about the advantages of open access publishing, including BioMed Central's journals, and to encourage them to submit their research articles to open access journals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What topics should be covered in an open access seminar?
An open access seminar is not just a forum for BioMed Central, but for the whole open access movement and its importance for fostering change in scholarly communication. Topics covered would ideally include how open access publishing works, the benefits of open access publishing, the ways in which it improves on the current, traditional model of scientific publishing, and an overview of the various initiatives that currently exist in the open access movement.
Some of these initiatives are the Public Library of Science, SPARC and the Budapest Open Access Initiative, as well as the OAI metadata harvesting project and, of course, BioMed Central. If any of the speakers are directly involved with publishing or editing open access journals, they may also want to include an account of their activities in the discussion.
Presentations
Please visit our presentations page for inspiration. Presentations featured on this page have all been given by BioMed Central staff in recent months, and all are available for download and reuse
– in keeping with our open access policy.
Who should attend an Open Access Seminar?
- All those who are involved in research in the life sciences, medicine, chemistry and physics, and who are looking to publish their work with a view to gaining high visibility and therefore a high chance of being cited by their peers.
- Any information specialists who are keen to find out more about the open access movement and are interested in change in scholarly communication.
- Representatives from the institution's press office and/or regional press contacts
What facilities are needed to host this event?
The event organizer/s should book a venue at the institution whose size should be dictated by the level of attendance expected. See below for tips on attracting a high level of attendance for the event.
Audio visual equipment needs may include a computer with PowerPoint, a live Internet connection and a slide projector with screen, although some speakers may not wish to use any of this type of equipment. You might also want to have microphones for the speakers depending on the size of the audience.
Who should talk at this event?
High-level faculty, ideally Deans of Research, authors who have published articles in open access journals, those who serve on open access journal editorial boards, enthusiasts and evangelists of open access.
What format should this event take?
The event can take the form of a single speaker followed by discussion, however it is likely to be more lively if it is either
- A program of talks (views and experiences of open access and its impact on the communication of research, etc), or
- A panel discussion (a looser, less structured format, fostering more interaction with panel and audience. Someone needs to chair or lead this discussion and draw it to a conclusion at the end)
In either case, it is advisable to factor in time for Q&A sessions after the talk. You might also like to include a demonstration of the BioMed Central site, its journals and features.
How can we ensure a high level of attendance?
Once a date and venue has been established, the event organizer and speakers should collaborate to ensure that the event receives maximum publicity within the institution. If the organizers feel that it is appropriate to invite attendees from other scientific institutions nearby, this would be highly recommended.
The speakers can play a sizeable role in encouraging colleagues and students to attend this event. Suggest they send tailored e-mails to select groups, highlighting their own participation in the event, and the relevance of open access publishing in improving the way that research is communicated.
Organizers can also get involved by distributing flyers and posters with details about the seminar in the library and departments, and helping to identify influential faculty who could encourage their colleagues to attend. They can also put an advert about the event on the institutional and departmental websites, and by spreading the word verbally among colleagues and lab heads.
You can find downloadable leaflets and posters about open access and BioMed Central in the BioMed Central advocacy pages. You can also request that promotional material be sent to you.
Another way in which to encourage attendance is to provide snacks and refreshments before or after the meeting, as this is always a big incentive to attend!
|
