| For creating forward-thinking publishing policies to expand access and verify scientific research, SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has named Mike Rossner, executive director of the Rockefeller University Press (RUP) in New York the latest SPARC innovator.
Rossner, a scientist by training and director of RUP since 2006, has been a force within the publishing community pushing for change. He has worked to promote wider sharing of research results, while balancing the challenge of sustaining a thriving publishing operation.
Rossner has led the RUP in championing free public access by implementing a policy to release the full contents of their journals after just a six-month delay. Last year, under his leadership, RUP took another step to promote the free distribution of their content by adopting a new copyright policy similar to a modified Creative Commons license. He has been an outspoken advocate for positive change, writing compelling pieces on topics as wide-ranging as support for the NIH Public Access Policy, unfair pricing practices by mega-publishers, and the need for greater transparency in journal metrics. Rossner was one of the first publishers to announce a freeze on journal subscription prices in light of the economic downturn. Most recently, he joined nine other university presses in endorsing a statement of in support of Open Access.
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January 2009: R. Preston McAfee
June 2008:
Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Addendum: Stanford University School of Education passes open access policy in wake of Harvard’s action
SPARC Innovator - December 2007:
AGENTS OF CHANGE - Student Activists for open access
SPARC Innovator - June 2007:
Ted & Carl Bergstrom
SPARC Innovator - December 2006:
Melissa Hagemann
Program Manager of the Open Access Initiative, Information Program, Open Society Institute
SPARC Innovator - July 2006:
University of California
SPARC Innovator - April 2006:
Herbert Van de Sompel
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| The SPARC Innovator program is a new initiative that recognizes an individual, institution, or group that exemplifies SPARC principles by working to challenge the status quo in scholarly communication for the benefit of researchers, libraries, universities, and the public. SPARC Innovators are featured on the SPARC Web site semi-annually.
SPARC Innovators are named by the SPARC staff in consultation with the SPARC Steering Committee. Individuals can nominate their colleagues as potential SPARC Innovators at http://www.arl.org/sparc/innovator/nominate.shtml. Criteria include but are not limited to a commitment to: - Reducing barriers to access, sharing, and use of scholarship, particularly in the scientific research field;
- Advancing the understanding and implementation of open access to research results;
- Working to create a balanced scholarly communication system;
- Use of technology to develop alternative publishing and communication solutions;
- Refusing to be constrained by the status quo and implementing new and creative ideas that are backed by research;
- Vision of the library as a focus for and/or supporter of change;
- The belief that individual actions can have a profound and positive impact in the scholarly communication field.
A SPARC Innovator can be an individual, a group of people, an institution, or another group that has been active in the areas listed above. Their actions may be broadly defined and may include online activity (i.e., postings on listservs and Web sites); on-campus programs and conferences; writing and editing (i.e., articles and books); promoting awareness and activism among others; and creating technologies and/or programs. There is no monetary award for SPARC Innovators.
For further information, please see the SPARC Web site at http://www.arl.org/sparc/.
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