Defining embargo periods by discipline?

[Sylvan Katz]

Citations tend to peak 3-6 years after publication. And 30-60% of papers 
are never cited depending on the field. Citations are not likely a good 
measuring for determining financial sensitively. And it is very 
difficult to measure rates of diffusion of information from a journal. 
The financial sensitivity issues is likely something the publishers will 
have to establish using subscription information.

Cheers
Sylvan


On 3/1/2013 2:11 PM, David Wojick wrote:
> Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe):
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>
> Thank you Loet; the NSF list is a very good candidate as NSF is one of
> the lead agencies in this rulemaking.
>
> I cannot give you an example of a proper embargo period as I am looking
> for an analytical way to find such, but I can explain the concept.
> Abstractly the proper embargo period is the shortest one that does not
> damage the journals in the discipline financially because of significant
> subscription cancellations. The idea is that this period varies by
> discipline due to differences in the rate of diffusion of research results.
>
> The evidence offered for embargo periods greater than the OSTP default
> period of 12 months is usually that citations peak later than this,
> which seems like a reasonable argument. It might also allow for periods
> shorter than 12 months. Mind you this evidence is merely indirect but
> for administrative purposes we need a simple formula. When citations
> peak seems like a reasonable candidate but I wonder if anyone has really
> looked at this issue? It is clearly scientometric in nature and the
> future of the scholarly publishing industry may depend on it.
>
> All my best,
>
> David
>
> At 02:18 PM 3/1/2013, you wrote:
>> Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe):
>> http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html
>>
>> Dear David,
>>
>> 1. for the disciplinary delineation, I would first look at the
>> NSF-list with
>> 13 broad fields (as used for the S&E Indicators). The advantage is
>> that the
>> list is seriously updated each two years by our colleague Ken Hamilton
>> and
>> that there is investment in its quality. There are many other
>> classifications.
>>
>> 2. Can you provide an example of "a proper embargo period"?
>>
>> Best,
>> Loet
>>
>>
>> Loet Leydesdorff
>> Professor, University of Amsterdam
>> Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR),
>> Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam.
>> Tel.: +31-20- 525 6598; fax: +31-842239111
>> loet at leydesdorff.net ; http://www.leydesdorff.net/ ;
>> http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ych9gNYAAAAJ&hl=en
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ASIS&T Special Interest Group on Metrics
>> [mailto:SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU] On Behalf Of David Wojick
>> Sent: Friday, March 01, 2013 5:44 PM
>> To: SIGMETRICS at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
>> Subject: [SIGMETRICS] Defining embargo periods by discipline?
>>
>> Adminstrative info for SIGMETRICS (for example unsubscribe):
>> http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html
>>
>> Dear Group,
>>
>> I have begun to work on the design issues for a new federal green OA
>> system
>> as raised by the recent U.S. OSTP Memo. See
>> http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/02/25/confusions-in-the-ostp-oa-poli
>>
>> cy-memo-three-monsters-and-a-gorilla/.
>>
>> One of the most interesting issues is defining different embargo
>> periods for
>> different disciplines. There is a clear scientometrics component to this.
>> Therefore I am asking if anyone knows of any research that speaks to this
>> issue? My first impression is that the citation pattern over time is the
>> only analytical framework that has been explored but I may be wrong.
>> In any
>> case we seem to be breaking new ground with this policy issue.
>>
>> There are actually two distinct issues. First how do we define a
>> discipline
>> for regulatory purposes? Second how do we determine the proper embargo
>> period for each discipline? The latter is perhaps the harder question.
>> Your
>> thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> My best regards to all,
>>
>> David
>