Innovation in Scholarly Communication: Vision and Projects from High-Energy Physics
📝 Abstract
Having always been at the forefront of information management and open access, High-Energy Physics (HEP) proves to be an ideal test-bed for innovations in scholarly communication including new information and communication technologies. Three selected topics of scholarly communication in High-Energy Physics are presented here: A new open access business model, SCOAP3, a world-wide sponsoring consortium for peer-reviewed HEP literature; the design, development and deployment of an e-infrastructure for information management; and the emerging debate on long-term preservation, re-use and (open) access to HEP data.
💡 Analysis
Having always been at the forefront of information management and open access, High-Energy Physics (HEP) proves to be an ideal test-bed for innovations in scholarly communication including new information and communication technologies. Three selected topics of scholarly communication in High-Energy Physics are presented here: A new open access business model, SCOAP3, a world-wide sponsoring consortium for peer-reviewed HEP literature; the design, development and deployment of an e-infrastructure for information management; and the emerging debate on long-term preservation, re-use and (open) access to HEP data.
📄 Content
1 DESY-08-054 CERN-OPEN-2008-13 May 2008
Innovation in Scholarly Communication: Vision and Projects from High-Energy Physics1
Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Annette Holtkamp Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Notkestraβe 85, D-22607 Hamburg, Germany
Salvatore Mele CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research CH1211, Genève 23, Switzerland
Abstract
Having always been at the forefront of information management and open access, High-Energy Physics (HEP) proves to be an ideal test-bed for innovations in scholarly communication including new information and communication technologies. Three selected topics of scholarly communication in High-Energy Physics are presented here: A new open access business model, SCOAP3, a world-wide sponsoring consortium for peer-reviewed HEP literature; the design, development and deployment of an e-infrastructure for information management; and the emerging debate on long-term preservation, re-use and (open) access to HEP data.
- Preamble
Research in High-Energy Physics (HEP), also called Particle Physics, is motivated by the goal of attaining a fundamental description of the laws of physics, such as explaining the origin of mass, and understanding the dark matter in the universe. Although fundamentally driven by the quest for knowledge, the ensuing research is performed at the edge of what is feasible technologically and hence drives the development of technology in many areas. The knowledge gained from studying the microcosm of particle collisions at the highest energies ever attained provides also insight into the early universe and its development since its creation. To further this understanding, experimental particle physicists build the largest instruments ever to reach energy densities close to the Big Bang, teaming up in collaborations of up to several thousands of scientists. At the same time, theoretical particle physicists, who represent the other half of the community, build hypotheses and theories to accommodate and predict experimental findings.
1Based on a keynote talk by Rolf-Dieter Heuer at APE2008, International Conference on “Academic Publishing in Europe”, Berlin, January 22nd-23rd 2008.
2
HEP experimental research takes place in international accelerator research centres in Europe, such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva or the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg; in the United States mainly at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois; and in Japan at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba. Canada, China, and Italy host other laboratories. HEP theoretical research takes place in hundreds of universities and institutes worldwide, which also host experimental teams building parts of the large detectors used at the large accelerator laboratories and analyzing the data collected with them.
With the start-up of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2008 and preparations for the International Linear Collider (ILC) in full swing, we expect revolutionary results explaining the origin of matter, unravelling the nature of dark matter and providing glimpses of extra spatial dimensions or grand unification of forces. Any of these insights would dramatically change our view of the world.
The LHC will collide protons 40 million times a second and reproduce the conditions at the origin of the universe. These collisions will be observed by large detectors, up to the size of a five storey building, crammed with electronic sensors: think a 100MegaPixel digital camera taking 40 million pictures a second.
This contribution will not describe the exciting intellectual, scientific and technological endeavour of particle physics. Rather it will attempt to describe some solutions that, on the long wave of its track record in international collaboration, HEP has proposed and implemented for its infrastructure in scholarly communication. Although this is a very discipline-specific approach to the present evolution of scholarly communication, it might be of interest for an audience learned in academic publishing.
- Introduction
Progress in information and communication technologies is driving evolving needs and
profound changes in scholarly communication. Scientists, and not only HEP scholars, have
come to expect:
• easy and unrestricted access to comprehensive scientific information in their field and
cognate disciplines;
• state-of-the art information tools to optimize their research workflow, with powerful
discovery tools and limited noise;
• quality assurance, at the intersection of three centuries of tradition in peer-review, but
with a twist of XXIst century communication for
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